Memory, Sorrow and Sword
by LadyShiin
Summary: Discontinued: BK At the threat of war Kaoru was given as a bride to appease the king. In doing so it set to motion an ancient prophecy and a destiny neither Kenshin nor Kaoru can avoid
1. Chapter 1

~*~ The Prophecy ~*~  
  
The Least shall become Most  
  
Common Pain shall bind their Hearts  
  
Sorrow Will Strengthen  
  
Love Shall Bloom like a Flower in the Midst of Darkness  
  
Gold and Violet Will Merge  
  
As the Demons Rise  
  
They Alone Shall Stand Against Them  
  
~*~  
  
The bouncing and jolting of the carriage had long since past the point of uncomfortable- ness. Now Kaoru just felt numb and unfeeling. She had gone past the being able to feel any sensation.  
  
Misao sat across from her, staring out the window with all encompassing interest, watching the red sun baked dirt of the desert change to dark wet brown and tall leafy trees rise out of the soil. Her long braid snaked over a shoulder and she had tucked her feet underneath her. Her arms rested on the window sill and she was totally enraptured, eyes wide in the midst of her small face.  
  
The sky outside was clear and free of any clouds. It was a deep blue, blue as forever, and blue as eternity, blue as Kaoru's feelings.  
  
Yahiko lay curled up beside Misao, long since having fallen asleep despite the torment the carriage had unleashed upon its occupants. He murmured softly in his sleep and making a soft mewling sound that was meant to be a snore. Kaoru's mouth quirked wryly into a grin, and for a moment she was able to forget exactly why she was in this carriage, headed to a an alien land to marry some barbarian king in order to consummate a pact that would keep Kasshin free from the threat or war or raids for several long years.  
  
Kaoru's mouth pulled down into a frown.  
  
Weakness.  
  
Weakness and fear.  
  
That was the causes of her predicament. Had it only been a moon since the runner had ridden into the courtyard, his horse flecked with foam and staggering from weariness after being ridden so hard for so many miles, bearing a message from the King?  
  
The message was clear: Send a woman of royal blood or risk war.  
  
But what hadn't been so clear was who were they to send? The Kasshin Royals had many marriageable princesses (they even had some princes of the appropriate orientation too if the King had so desired), but none had wanted to go. Kaoru didn't blame them; tales of the King's cruelty were well known - as well known as his flame hair and golden eyes.  
  
So Kaoru had been the one they had delegated.  
  
Oh she was of Royal Blood, though hers was tainted in their minds. She was the result of a one night tryst between one of the Princes and a servant. They had been overlooking that fact for years, giving her no more consideration than they would any other servant (and that was little).  
  
But suddenly her mixed blood became a blessing to them. Here they had a person of Royal Blood who they could send without care and not have to risk any of their precious daughters (many of whom were set to be engaged to various princes and dukes) and they would still get their treaty. It didn't matter to them at all if the King beheaded her at first glance; their hands were clean from the matter.  
  
My dear relatives, Kaoru's thoughts were bitter. I'm just a convenient pawn to them, nothing more, and nothing less.  
  
The silk dress she wore felt heavy and stiff, abrading the skin across her shoulders and rubbing it raw. Her head ached from the tightness of the elaborate loops and coils her hair had been put in and she could barely breathe from the constricting fabric wrapped snugly about her waist. Her toes felt confined in the hard shoes she was made to wear.  
  
Kaoru missed her servant wear: a simple kimono top and flared hakama, soft sandals. They had been comfortable and functional at the same time. This dress was just for show, she could barely move around in it.  
  
The bright polished wood of the carriage leered her reflection back at her. It was clearly visible due to the large amounts of varnish that had been applied to the wood. Her face had been painted bridal white, her lips stained with red and her eyes edged with black kohl. This girl with her painted face and doll like features was not Kaoru.  
  
Her very reflection felt as alien and as distant as the lands the carriage was being driven through.  
  
The bouncing and jostling of the carriage lessened in intensity and Kaoru could feel them slowing.  
  
"Riders are approaching," Misao murmured softly, her gaze rapt to the goings on.  
  
Kaoru pulled back the curtain slightly to peer out. A ring of riders had circled the carriage and one seemed to be talking to the driver.  
  
The horses they rode were dark chestnut each one standing at least sixteen hands and dressed in golden elaborate tack that gleamed like the sun. They themselves were dressed in red livery with the symbol of a golden tongue of flame on the left breast.  
  
A golden flame. that was the King's symbol!  
  
The next second the door was pulled open and one of the riders looked in. "Miss Kaoru?" He asked, his voice carried a faint accent and he spoke carefully as if unsure of his words and wanting to be as correct in their use as was possible.  
  
Kaoru nodded, feeling her throat close up. "Yes."  
  
The man bowed low at the waist in one sweeping elegant movement. "We will be escorting you to the palace, if you would come with us." He held out a hand and unthinking, Kaoru took it.  
  
Misao and Yahiko came out after her, blinking in the brightness of the sun after being cooped inside the dimly lit carriage for so long.  
  
"Can you ride?" The question was directed to Kaoru and she nodded. She could ride. well enough, she supposed.  
  
A horse was led up to her. It was a tall golden palomino mare as fine as any the Royal Stables held. Her coat shone like sunlight itself and her mane and tail's were long and white as freshly fallen snow. Kaoru suddenly felt very awed and very small.  
  
Getting up proved a tad difficult due to the heavy skirt Kaoru wore and her reluctance to rip it. The dress was the finest thing she had ever worn in her life (despite her immense dislike of it), tearing it or getting it dirty would be sacrilege.  
  
Misao and Yahiko mounted their own horses, an elegant sorrel gelding and a small round bellied bay pony. While this was happening other riders were collecting the bags and trunks from the carriage and strapping them onto the few packhorses they had brought along.  
  
The carriage driver spoke some words to the leader, perhaps a farewell, before slapping the reins across the horse's backs and turning the carriage around. The carriage faded from sight and Kaoru felt a pang of loneliness shoot through her.  
  
"Come," the leader sat his prancing chestnut stallion as if he was born in the saddle. "We go now." He whirled the horse around on its haunches and took off at a smooth canter.  
  
The rest followed.  
  
~*~  
  
The land was bare of habitation, miles and miles of tall treed forests and flower dotted fields. It was beautiful scenery Kaoru had to admit but she missed the tall towers of the Castle, the hustle and bustle of the village that surrounded it like the spokes of a wheel and the ever present sounds of a people's voices. This lack of sound was oppressive and cold. The silence felt chilling.  
  
"Do you have no cities? No villages?" Kaoru asked the leader as she urged her mare apace of his horse. Anything for sound, anything to banish this gloom that had settled across her thoughts.  
  
"We have a City. Our people are nomads; our homes are what we carry on our horse's backs and where we stay for a few nights. We stay in a place long enough for the ground to become trampled from the pattering of feet before moving again."  
  
Our.  
  
Not my.  
  
Kaoru was a part of his people now.  
  
She certainly didn't feel like it.  
  
"Oh," Kaoru murmured. One city, endless traveling; her mind whirled with dizziness.  
  
"In this land a man's most precious belongings are his horse, his sword, his dog and," the man's smile turned mischievous, "his wife."  
  
Kaoru's cheeks flamed and she bit her tongue to keep from uttering a sharp retort. She squared her shoulders sharply and stared between her mares ears, ignoring him.  
  
The man chuckled lowly, "do not be upset." He said in a manner that was supposed to be placating. "Our King is a good one; he will not force you against your will."  
  
"Too late, that's already happened to me." Kaoru said sharply. "I was given no choice when his proclamation came to the Castle."  
  
"But here, you have a choice if you wish to take it." The man said consolingly.  
  
"That's good to know," Kaoru said softly, feeling some of her anger fade.  
  
The man smiled and suddenly swung his horse hard to the right, darting through a strand of tall trees. The tight press of trees made riding single file the only option and Kaoru pulled her mare into place behind a couple of the riders.  
  
The song of birds and the rustle of tree leaves and the soft beat of hooves against leaf strewn ground became the only noises for several hours. Kaoru found it lulling, soothing, almost comforting. Some of the tension in her body drained.  
  
The sky above was streaked with sunset. Ribbons of color, gold, red, bright pink, indigo, there were even a few stars starting to appear. Kaoru could already spot some familiar constellations and star forms. The familiarity soothed some of the ache caused by loneliness.  
  
Even though I'm in another country, I'm still under the same sky, looking up at the same stars, she mused.  
  
A cry started in the front of the line rippling down through the riders until it reached the very last one. It had a wild joyful sound to it and suddenly Kaoru was caught off guard as her mare burst into a gallop.  
  
The horses broke from the trees, fanning out and racing neck and neck. Ahead Kaoru saw a Palace. It rose to the sky and seemed to keep on going until it disappeared into the clouds. It was made of glittering white stone, stained by the colors of dusk. Her stomach lurched.  
  
This place was to be her home now.  
  
An answering cry was raised up ahead and Kaoru saw heavy gates swing open to welcome them in. The lines of people that edged the narrow passageway became a blur as the horses thundered past. Their voices rose in greeting, a high trilling sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck prickle.  
  
Suddenly Kaoru's mare slowed to a fast walk, placing her feet delicately upon the smooth rock of the courtyard underfoot. The riders lined their horses up one next to the other; their backs ramrod straight and eyes staring forward.  
  
Kaoru heard the creak of a door opening and jerked her gaze forward. A golden, filigreed door swung open with painful slowness. It seemed to take forever for it to open large enough for a person to pass through. A figure stepped out from behind the door and glided down the high white steps.  
  
Dying sunlight turned his hair to fire and his eyes seemed to reflect the coming darkness like a cat's.  
  
The King. 


	2. Chapter 2

He doesn't look anything like I imagined he would, was Kaoru's first thought. But what did I think he'd look like? She chided herself. Did I picture a giant of a man who frothed at the mouth and wore animal skins?  
  
Certainly not at all like he actually did look - he couldn't' have been taller than she herself was and she wasn't tall to begin with. He moved lithely like a stalking cat and had a delicate air to him. Like a light and finely tooled blade. His hair was as long as her own; tied back by a strip of leather, bangs falling free to hang about his face.  
  
His face was delicately structured. How old _was_ he exactly? He didn't appear to be much older than a boy! A cross shaped scar was evident on his left cheek.  
  
As delicate as he might look, his eyes told another story. Bright gold, they were as watchful and wary as a hawk's. Savage, merciless, Kaoru could believe the tales told about him just by looking in his eyes.  
  
He wore a simple hakama and gi. Kaoru could see why her relatives considered him a barbarian. They wore elaborate, finely made clothes out of the highest quality (and most expensive) cloth.  
  
He was as different from her family as night was to day. Oh the clothes he wore were finely made, but they were functional as well and void of any loose hanging tassels or gaudy jewels sewn into the cloth. He wore no gold or silver or other jewels, the sheath of the sword that hung at his hip was the most elaborate thing about him.  
  
But, he had something... he gave off an aura. Dress him in rags and cover him in mud all you want. he was a king. It showed in the way he moved, his very presence. There was no doubt who ruled here.  
  
"My lord," the leader of the group of riders bent in the saddle until his nose touched his horse's mane.  
  
The Kings golden eyes flickered towards him, granting attention.  
  
"In agreement of the treaty the Kasshin Royal Family has sent the daughter you asked for." He made a gesturing motion in Kaoru's direction and she sat straighter in the saddle.  
  
How was she supposed to act? She wasn't a princess! She didn't know how to act like a princess! The last moon's worth of lessons and tutoring she had been given had been jumbled at best. How to curtsey properly (she already knew how to due that from years of serving), how to hold a cup of tea, how to walk right.  
  
It was all useless information.  
  
What good did a few weeks of rushed training do you when you were faced with a man who could behead you without sparing a thought? Kaoru wondered that in a perverse way her family might have planned for this to happen.  
  
No, she dismissed the thought. Her family wanted this treaty, this alliance too badly (but not badly enough to send a true Royal), they wouldn't be sending her intentionally toward her death.  
  
"Sire," she murmured. She mimicked the leaders bowing in the saddle hoping desperately her dress would decide to cooperate.  
  
It did.  
  
Good dress.  
  
The King's mouth quirked slightly upward in what she thought was an approving smile. Kaoru did her best to meet his eyes without flinching (I will not show fear; I will not show fear became a mantra she chanted).  
  
"Come. Katsu," he directed his words first to her and then to the leader, "bring her things to her rooms."  
  
Her rooms.  
  
Kaoru's rooms.  
  
Perhaps it meant she wouldn't be forced against her will. Sharing a bed with a man she did not even know was not something that was at the top of Kaoru's favorite things list.  
  
Things were looking up.  
  
One of the riders dismounted and lifted her from the saddle obviously not trusting her to get out of it herself without ripping her dress. His hands lingered on her waist to help steady her as her feet touched ground and Kaoru didn't know whether to be offended or grateful.  
  
She felt a touch at her elbow and turned to see Misao and Yahiko standing behind her looking decidedly uncomfortable. "What do we do?" Misao asked her usually bubbly voice void of its ever present enthusiasm.  
  
Kaoru shook her head." I don't know. Go with Katsu and wait for me in my rooms."  
  
"Good luck," Yahiko's eyes were solemn and it was a testament to his worry that he did not offer some sarcastic remark on her appearance or attitude.  
  
Kaoru ruffled his hair an action that was guaranteed to be received with a scowl and a mutter of 'ugly.' It worked as it was supposed to and Kaoru smiled at the boy who she considered her younger brother. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."  
  
Yahiko rolled his eyes in annoyance at her display of affection and jerked his head away from her touch," who would worry about any ugly old hag like you anyway?" He muttered, doing his best to smooth his already mussed up hair.  
  
Kaoru tapped him on the nose with her finger, "mind your mouth." She reprimanded sternly.  
  
Yahiko glowered in reply.  
  
"Come on," Misao grabbed his sleeve and proceeded to haul him off with him yowling to let go.  
  
"If you would please follow me," the words were accompanied by a polite touch of her shoulder and Kaoru turned to see a red liveried rider standing stiffly at attention. Kaoru wondered if the King's riders were given lessons in manners. They certainly didn't look or act like a bunch of bloodthirsty savages.  
  
Kaoru picked up the hem of her dress delicately in one hand as she had been shown in her lessons and walked up the steps. Ahead of her was a vast hallway, glowing golden lamps hung from the ceiling and lined the walls.  
  
The walls were bear of any ornaments except for a scrolling at the top and bottom and were made of some ivory gold veined rock that glittered whenever the light touched them. Kaoru found she liked them it was certainly a welcome change from the various sternly glowering portraits of this king and that one and that second-cousin-twice-removed-through-marriage.  
  
The hallway lead through an arched opening and before was a dining room as large as any she had ever seen in the castle. It was packed from end to end with people, they mingled around the round small dining tables talking and laughing. At the back on a raised platform was a crescent shaped much larger table. That would be where Kaoru would dine, she guessed.  
  
At her appearance all the eyes turned to her and Kaoru suddenly felt shy. Years of serving, learning to be invisible and unseen warred within her. She hated being stared at. But they didn't just stare they gawked openly.  
  
A few women she noticed looked at her with barely concealed dislike. Obviously she had gotten in their way of marrying the King.  
  
They could have him for all she cared.  
  
Raising her head in a haughty manner (as she had seen the older princesses do) Kaoru walked down the steps.  
  
Float, she commanded herself as the lessons she had been taught. Head up, shoulders back, and simply float, the voice of her tutor echoed in her mind.  
  
The toe of her shoe caught the hem of her dress and Kaoru gritted her teeth. Forget floating, just walk normally she decided.  
  
Following the rider she ignored everyone else. She was acutely aware of them and she had a peculiar itch between her shoulder blades as if someone would stab her in the back.  
  
The King (what was his name exactly? It had never been found out - what a good show of diplomacy on her family's part), stood at the center of the table, beside him his riders and some other men she had not seen before stood as well. The chair on his left was empty she noticed and Kaoru figured that would be where she would be sitting.  
  
He ignored her and Kaoru as she slipped into place beside him and Kaoru had a feeling that was a good thing. If he didn't notice her now, he wouldn't notice her later, was her reasoning.  
  
Suddenly he raised his right arm and barked out something in a language Kaoru did not know. On top of everything else she'd have to learn to speak a new language, curse her relatives.  
  
The people let out a high wailing cheer in response and Kaoru felt her ears ring. What was it exactly that he had said? Obviously seeing her confusion the man standing next to her bent over, "he's introducing you to the court." He told her.  
  
And what should she do now? Kaoru opted for smiling and inclining her head. She felt like such a fool but it worked. They cheered again and Kaoru felt a soft throb settle against her temples. She was getting a headache from all the noise.  
  
Food was brought in by red clad servants as the people sat. Platters of roast meat swimming in their juices, vegetables an fruits of kinds Kaoru had never seen before, a soft subtle tasting soup flavored by herbs.  
  
Kaoru found their dining habits were as civilized as any she had seen in the Court (albeit they used far less cutlery). None spoke as they ate and so accustomed to the loud grating chatter of her relatives and their flunkies, to Kaoru, the silence seemed unnaturally loud. The King ignored her as if she did not exist and Kaoru was too hungry to engage him in any type of conversation. So she ate and ignored him in turn.  
  
Food was cleared away as they finished and desert and skins of wine were brought in. Kaoru took an experimental sip of her wine and set it down, blinking back tears at the burning sensation it left in her throat. The desert - a honey, nut and fruit filled pastry she found much more agreeable.  
  
Someone started playing music and as if responding to an invisible cues all the people of the lower tables got up to dance. The music was boisterous, wild and erratic, an utter contrast to the smooth sedate kind the Kasshin Court danced to.  
  
The way of dancing here was different as well: at home the people danced in orderly sets and pairs. Here they danced alone, in pairs or at the most in a trio, exchanging partners on whim. They spun and twirled and leapt, arms flailing and tracing patterns in the air with quick precise gestures. Kaoru found it fascinating to watch and wondered why no one at the Upper table participated.  
  
All too soon she found herself dozing, a long day and nerves had sapped her strength and she struggled to keep her eyes open and stay awake.  
  
A hand touched her shoulder and she turned her head to the see the man sitting next to her, the seat on her other side where the King sat was empty, and Kaoru wondered when he had left and where he had gone (she made a mental note to ask his name the next time she saw him).  
  
"You are tired milady. Would you like me to take you back to your rooms?"  
  
Kaoru nodded, too tired to talk.  
  
The hallways seemed to blur together as she trailed behind him to her rooms. At the door she murmured a thank you before going inside. She stripped off her dress to her under garments and crawled into the bed where she was promptly asleep. 


	3. Chapter 3

It was dark.  
  
From where she stood, Kaoru could see a faint, muted light. More like a feeble glow to be correct. It was the only spark of brightness in the otherwise all encompassing black that surrounded her.  
  
She began to walk toward it. It did not grow brighter as she grew nearer but it remained constant and steady. Her feet did not seem to touch the ground; she seemed to float above it instead of walking over it. The feeling was disorientating when coupled with the dimness of everything around her. Kaoru felt half blind.  
  
The light, she now saw, came from a dimly lit lamp. A few paces away just out of the reach of its glow, a woman sat in front of a loom, weaving a tapestry. The light seemed to stop as if it reached a barrier that surrounded the woman and she was covered completely in shadow. All Kaoru could see of her was a vague outline.  
  
Kaoru felt a light tug on her arm looked down. She was clad in a sky blue kimono. A single thread ran from its sleeve and into the loom.  
  
Looking closer, Kaoru could see the sky blue thread stark against a background of white in the tapestry. As her eyes moved upward Kaoru saw the thread became interwoven with another one, a violet edged golden one.  
  
As the tapestry progressed the two became increasingly interwoven, until it was hard to distinguish which one was which. The background of the tapestry grew darker, gray, black, until the two colors had become obliterated.  
  
Swallowed up and lost in the darkness.  
  
"Tied together the two of you are," the woman said her voice soft yet drifting easily to Kaoru's ears.  
  
"You share the same destiny, the same fate. Whether for good or ill, you two cannot be separated."  
  
Kaoru's brow furrowed, "what are you talking about? Who is this 'he' you speak of?"  
  
"I am talking about your fate child, your future. And the world's future, it is tied to your fate and only you and he can keep the world from falling into darkness. He is your heart. He is the lost piece of your soul. Together you two are one. You just do not know it yet."  
  
Kaoru laughed," I'm not some character in a fairy tale and that is exactly what you're making me sound like. I'm not going to go riding off into the sunset in search of dragons to slay and lost treasure. I have no need or want for a soul mate. "  
  
"No that you will not do but yes he is. Your destiny is different from those mythic heroes that you speak about, though child, if you accomplish what your destiny has in store for you, you will be spoken of in tales and ballads the same as those heroes."  
  
Kaoru snorted the woman talked gibberish, "All those heroes died to be made into heroes." She pointed out. "I would rather not be regaled in tales if it meant I had to meet my death to warrant a place in them."  
  
"We are all pawns to destiny, little one. Even I myself have no power against the threads of time. I merely try to make them fall into place as smoothly as possible with the least amount of tangles and frays.  
  
"The tapestry that you and he weave is an especially fragile and delicate one. It is tied to many other tapestries and made of many other life threads. It contains the fates and lives and many and they all depend on the two of you."  
  
The woman fell silent for several moments as if pondering something. "I have spoken too much so I have." She said after a moment. You must not know more than you are supposed to or all shall be lost. Be gone now little one!"  
  
The dream ended abruptly then.  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru woke to find sunlight streaming through the tall glass windows that took up one wall of the room – her room. She bolted upright in the bed and for a disorientated moment she fought down panic – she had slept late she must hurry to her chores! Then she remembered she was no longer a servant and would no longer be made to do chores.  
  
With a sigh Kaoru fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Something tickled at the back of her mind – a dream?  
  
Of what exactly?  
  
She tried to remember and all she could recall was darkness, a weaving loom and a shadow-woman. Something about destiny… it all faded from her mind as she tried to grasp it.  
  
There was a knock on her door, it held a purposeful sound to it and contained no hesitation. A second later the doorknob turned and a servant stepped inside her room holding a tray of food and a roll of cloth that Kaoru supposed were clothes – tucked under her (it was a girl) arm.  
  
"You're up I see." The girl smiled, she couldn't have been more than ten Kaoru thought.  
  
She bounded more than walked to Kaoru's bedside. "My name is Tsubame." She said politely.  
  
"Where are Yahiko and Misao?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"Still sleeping, I suppose. I'm not sure, I was told to tend to you." Tsubame shrugged. "This tray contains your breakfast and I have brought clothes since I think you might need to change. Would you like any help?"  
  
"No thank you." Gods above I know I should be able to change into my own clothes after serving my relatives for so long!  
  
Tsubame bowed, "if you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask. I'll only be just outside." With that said she turned and left.  
  
Breakfast consisted of some long grained porridge Kaoru had never seen in her life, crunchy still warm bread and several kinds of fruit that were unknown to her. Also on the tray was a mug and small carafe. It held a dark brown hot drink that smelled slightly of cinnamon and tasted faintly of vanilla.  
  
It smelled delicious and her stomach woke at once to complain its emptiness. There were small, slender and highly arched spoons next to the plates and Kaoru supposed they were the eating utensils. Eating with them proved difficult as the porridge kept slithering off the spoon. Kaoru soon gave up trying to lift the food into her mouth and just titled the bowl towards her and shoveled the porridge into her mouth. Not exactly proper but it was effective.  
  
The fruits were tangy and sweet and Kaoru found a neatly folded napkin which she used to wipe her face free of the juices. There didn't seem to be any butter of jam to spread on the bread and so Kaoru ate it without. It tasted faintly of honey with a nutty texture and Kaoru found it quite agreeable.  
  
The hot drink Kaoru thought was their answer to coffee. It certainly tasted better than any she had, had before. It warmed her insides as she drank and seemed to be an eclectic mixture of flavors: vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, and caramel – it was absolutely lovely.  
  
Setting her now eaten breakfast aside Kaoru unrolled the cloth. The cloth turned out to be a tunic and trousers the exact same shade of blue as her eyes. The material was unknown to Kaoru soft and silky to the touch but durable she supposed. Kaoru lifted them up and shook them out and heard a dull thud. A comb had been placed inside the clothes and Kaoru set to work on her hair first, brushing out the tangles and securing the mass into a ponytail at the nape of her neck.  
  
She then donned the clothes. They flowed around her not exactly baggy but not too clingy either. They were comfortable.  
  
A knock at the door brought her out of her musings and a second later it opened. A tall gray haired man entered followed closely by a black haired woman several inches taller than Kaoru.  
  
"So this is the one they sent." The woman's voice was contemptuous as she surveyed Kaoru.  
  
Kaoru bristled, if the woman's attitude was any indication she was one of the King's would-have-been-wife-if-not-for-her.  
  
"Quiet, Megumi." The other man said. He had an eye patch over one eye Kaoru noticed and walked with a slight limp.  
  
"My name is Okina." He said to her, inclining his head respectfully. "This is Megumi – the Court Healer."  
  
"She's the one who's supposed to check my health?" Kaoru asked. "I have a feeling she'd poison me if given the chance."  
  
Megumi's eyes narrowed. "Did they have no better princesses to offer? I feel sorry for dear Ken."  
  
"Ken?" Kaoru inquired.  
  
"Kenshin, the King," The words "you moron" were almost audible. "Do you not even know the name of the man you are married to?" Megumi's voice was disbelieving.  
  
Kaoru glared at her," not exactly my fault. My… family didn't keep good records of who ruled which country, or maybe they didn't care. I don't know. They always referred to 'Kenshin' as the King."  
  
"Well at least they were being somewhat respectable." Megumi sneered.  
  
"Don't take your anger out on me." Kaoru retorted. "I could care less about them."  
  
"Well that's a relief; you might not take after them then."  
  
Kaoru opened her mouth to respond to the insult but Okina interrupted her. "Megumi, if you would examine her please."  
  
"Don't worry," Kaoru murmured snidely. "I'm not diseased."  
  
"A pity… though I would probably have to take care of you and if you died Kenshin would behead me." Megumi muttered.  
  
She spent the next few minutes poking and prodding Kaoru she found her to be "healthy if a bit on the thin side."  
  
"We will be your tutors while you live here." Okina said as Megumi completed her exam of Kaoru.  
  
"Tutoring me in what exactly?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"Our language, how to wield a sword," Okina shrugged. "Various things you should know about, our land since it is now your home: the history, people, customs."  
  
"I know some words of the language," Kaoru said. About five words and phrases exactly hello, goodbye, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me. Quite pitiful really Hiten (the land) bordered Kasshin and but barely anyone Kaoru knew could speak the language of their neighboring country.  
  
"And I can wield a sword somewhat decently," Kaoru had loved to watch the swordsmen practice during her few free moments and had mimicked the lessons and moves she had seen with a discarded bokken back home. She might be untrained but she could defend herself well enough if the occasion called for it.  
  
"We shall begin your lessons tomorrow. First, I think a tour of the palace is in order."  
  
That sounded agreeable to Kaoru, she would like to see the place where she would now be living.  
  
~*~  
  
For the next few hours they brought her around the palace pointing out various rooms and artifacts and giving information on them. Kaoru filed it away and remembered the location of everything. A servant had to remember which important guest was kept where and where to find whatever a person wanted. Knowing where everything was essential and Kaoru had developed a knack for keeping track of everything.  
  
The palace was huge and clean, very well kept. Barbaric was not a word to be used to describe the place. Everything was as immaculate as it would have been at she been back home and everyone she encountered seemed to be in better spirits than those who lived at the Kasshin Court.  
  
Upon inquiring about Misao and Yahiko she learned they were being taken around by others to see their new home. Kaoru was glad they were being looked after. Back home they had been her best friends and closest thing to a real family.  
  
Yahiko the son of deceased nobles who had fallen out of favor and upon their deaths had been made into a servant. His pride had gotten him into trouble many times and despite his gruff, arrogant exterior he was sweet and Kaoru regarded him as the little brother she had never had.  
  
Misao was the daughter of a pair of guards who had died in a skirmish near the eastern boarder. She had been just a child at the time and had been made into a servant.  
  
It seemed to Kaoru anyone who had no relatives or no significance to the Royals was made into a servant. Bastard children such as Kaoru had also been made into servants except of course if the mother was a favorite concubine or pleased the father of the child in some way.  
  
Still, even if they were given full status as Royal the children were never really considered royal by the true full bloods. The children taunted them and when they were older played wicked mind games and spread ghastly rumors. Many of the children upon reaching adulthood fled the castle to live their own lives.  
  
Kaoru had envied them. Her life had she remained at the castle would have been one of eternal servitude to her family. A prince or lord might have taken an interest in her as bed mate – a prospect that did not sit well with Kaoru. Her life would have been miserable until the day she died, old, gray and worn.  
  
Indeed her betrothal to Kenshin could be considered a blessing, an escape from the destined life she had in place for her.  
  
Now Kaoru had choices. She could say yes or no without the fear of being beaten for being defiant and uncooperative.  
  
Kaoru found her mind wandering as she walked behind Okina and Megumi. Their voices had faded into soft murmuring that she barely paid attention to anymore. She startled out of her thoughts as she bumped into something.  
  
It was an archway that leads into a garden.  
  
Curious Kaoru entered the garden. It was a lovely place. Flowers and trees of all kinds bloomed all around her. The ground under her feet was shining silver stone edged with lush green grass. A water fountain was in the center – a flower that spilled water into a basin. Birds perched on the rim drinking or bathing in the water. The air was fragrant with perfume.  
  
A soft whisper of foot against stone alerted Kaoru to another's presence. She turned to see Kenshin standing a few feet behind her.  
  
For a moment she just stared at him wondering what to say. Her usual quick tongue felt dead in her mouth. As she watched Kenshin held out his hand and a small blue winged bird lighted on his palm. It walked across his hand a few times then launched itself off and back into the air. He seemed to be ignoring her, either that or unconcerned about her presence.  
  
"Is this your garden?" What a stupid question. Kaoru immediately flushed.  
  
"No."  
  
"Whose garden is it then?"  
  
"It was the old Queen's garden when my father lived." Those ten words were probably the most he had ever spoken to her. He had a light voice, not as deep as some of the men's. It was like silk wrapped in steel, soft yet commanding.  
  
"Your mother?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"She was not my mother." With that said he turned and left leaving Kaoru to stare after him. Almost civil then suddenly cold. He confused her and confusion was not a sensation Kaoru neither liked nor wanted. Not the son of the Queen? What did that mean? Why couldn't she have been given to someone normal and uncomplicated? 


	4. Chapter 4

Kaoru was back in the dream again.  
  
The darkness pressed around her tightly, sliding across her body in chill fingers. It was almost tangible the feeling she got. It seemed to pulse around her like a living thing, something that breathed and moved though it was not quite alive.  
  
Enchanted was probably what it was. Perhaps the darkness was formed by some kind of magic. Kaoru had never come into contact with a person who could use magic. It had been said they had all died out because of some unexplainable reason.  
  
Three hundred or so years ago the Kasshin Court had been home to a witch or sorceress had been controlled by the Royal Family. Stories of her still were often told in times of celebration or when the wind howled outside the door in icy blasts in the middle of winter.  
  
The lamp glowed softly amid the darkness, its light no stronger or brighter than it had been before. Still despite the dimness the light remained constant and steady. It felt almost comforting. It was a sole ray of light against the darkness.  
  
The shadow-woman sat in front of her loom seemingly oblivious to Kaoru's presence. Her hands were never still, flying across the tapestry, the frame vibrated as she wove, her hands a darker than the surrounds, blur.  
  
There was a violent tug on Kaoru's arm. Looking down she found the single thread running from her blue kimono's sleeve and leading to the loom until it disappeared among the many threads that made up the tapestry.  
  
There was another jerk. One that was stronger than before. The force of it brought Kaoru to her knees and still its tug did not lessen. Kaoru found herself sliding forward as if drawn.  
  
"It draws you in that your destiny does." The shadow-woman said her voice as soft and elusive in meaning as before. "You can feel it now, can you not? Though it has just begun the strength of the pull is astounding that it is. Even now your destiny swoops toward you like a hawk descending upon defenseless prey."  
  
Kaoru found herself bristling. The analogy felt disturbing and she did not want to think of why she, the shadow-woman had chosen those exact words to use.  
  
"You do not like what I say? It matters not as long as you listen to the words I speak to you." She paused and seemed to sigh. "Listen to the words I say yes - but your destiny demands you remain ignorant of the part you have to play in the coming events."  
  
"You speak in riddles." Kaoru said flatly. The twisted way she spoke was irritating and difficult to follow.  
  
The shadow-woman laughed. "Do not pout so little one - it does not become you that it does not. Your face is better suited for merriment and happiness, smiles and not tears."  
  
The tugging had not stopped. The continuous pull was making her arm ache. Kaoru felt like it was being pulling out of its socket. Tears sprang to her eyes from the pain.  
  
"Cry you will yes, many, many tears I fear will fall from those eyes of yours." The shadow-woman voice was full of resigned sorrow. "If I could I would save you from the time that is yet to come. Dam the rivers of pain that will flow across the land in rivers that run red.  
  
"But as you know, as I have told you before I cannot do that. I am powerless, utterly subservient to the threads of destiny and time. I cannot manipulate them in any way." The sorrow in her voice grew as she reflected upon her predicament.  
  
"Go now little one, our meeting has gone on too long. I must release you now from the fragile grip of my power. Be gone once more and wake! I shall await you until our next meeting that I shall."  
  
The dream dissolved around her then.  
  
~*~  
  
Barely a fortnight had passed since Kaoru's arrival. Somehow the time seemed longer than it actually was. Her life had fallen into a routine that made the days blur together with its consistency. Perhaps that consistency was what was helping her cope. Her days did not vary much in the way they would go and the fact that Kaoru could almost completely rely on how they would go was comforting.  
  
Her day started with Tsubame waking her up and bringing her, her clothes for the day and breakfast. The clothes were never the same ones as the day before. They were always brand new a fact that Kaoru found she could not get over. As a servant she had had, had about three outfits total and they had to become much worn before she would be given another. Her new clothes were a novelty she enjoyed.  
  
Her breakfast stayed slightly more constant but she still found new foods she had never seen before much less tasted. A pale golden cheese that crumbled upon her touch and tasted creamy in her mouth, a round biscuit baked in honey and studded in nuts, pale pink fruits the size of her clenched fist and full of tiny black seeds. Almost every day there was something new.  
  
Probably the only thing that did not change was the drink she was brought. She learned it was called ahvay. She gave it points over coffee for its taste and smell. Sometimes there would be a small saucer of whipped cream that she would top the drink and then let dissolve. The drink was addictive and Kaoru would have gladly have had it for every meal of the day without fail.  
  
After Kaoru ate and dressed herself Okina and Megumi would arrive to begin her lessons. Okina she found later on had been the leader of the King's elite fighters the Oniwabanshuu until he had sustained injuries while protecting the old King and had been made to retire. He still walked with a limp and no longer had the use of one eye because of what had happened.  
  
The day would always start off with Okina's weapon training. Kaoru had mastered daggers easily in the first few days, her eye and aim very good. The same went for kunai and throwing stars.  
  
Satisfied with her progress Okina had introduced other weapons, staff, shinai and bokken - not yet trusting her enough to handle a katana or rapier. Kaoru's arms had been sore and aching for the first few days but had slowly begun to get used to the weight and she found they did not hurt as much as they had before when that part of the lesson came to a close.  
  
Besides dealing with weapons Okina was teaching her how to fight with her hands and feet. Kaoru found she learned the moves with ease but when it came time to spar with him she usually ended upon her back within the first few moments. Okina did not hold back on her and she did not know whether to appreciate that or not. His humoring her and allowing her to win once in a while would not have been such a bad thing, at least Kaoru thought so.  
  
To finish off the lesson there were horsemanship lessons. Kaoru might have considered herself a passable rider but Okina had told her flatly in contrast to the others she was a child, a beginner and must come up to standard with the those around her in terms of riding quickly. The people here were nomads, spending most of their time traveling around on horseback. The City was visited perhaps once a year or twice at most. Kaoru should get used to the fact that she would be in the saddle almost constantly once they moved out of the City.  
  
The palomino mare she had ridden the first time she had arrived here was the horse she rode in her lessons. Her name was Karuna, a word that translated roughly to Sun-Runner in Kaoru's own language. She was spirited yet quiet and easily put up with Kaoru's bungling.  
  
Okina had refused to let her ride at all until she learned how to groom, saddle and untack the mare and his lessons were full of horse lore and how to take care of them, what signs meant they were sick and which herbs and plants could be used as medicine to cure them of various ailments.  
  
The horse was an important thing here and no one ever skimped on taking care of them Kaoru learned, to do so could be disastrous for a person whose horse had become injured or unable to keep going when traveling was often an invitation for death. The land here was not settled, small groups of rogue warriors and bandits roamed. This was no tame and settled Kasshin, Hiten was wild and unpredictable, and living here could be dangerous and frequently deadly. It had been in a skirmish with a small band of mercenaries that the old King had died.  
  
Kaoru learned the basics quick enough to please Okina, her balance was good and she could easily sit a trot and canter without bouncing around much. But then again Karuna's paces were as smooth as silk and just as gentle.  
  
Once she was considered ready by Okina Kaoru was begun being taught harder more complicated movements. Karuna was trained to fight as all the other horses were. To demonstrate Okina once mounted her and rode her around.  
  
Kaoru had watched wide-eyed at what she had seen. The mare had whirled and lunged, struck as quick as a snake with both hind and front feet. Once she had rocked back onto her haunches in a half rear (AN: I know there is a name for this movement in high school dressage - the kind the Lipizzaner horses do but I can't remember what its called exactly) and then launched herself forward. Her ears had been flat against her head, mouth open and teeth bared. It had been such a change from her usual gentle complacent self that Kaoru almost could not believe it.  
  
Okina had then dismounted and let Kaoru get back on. He told her which cues to use for which movements and when Kaoru had tried to mimic them she found she did not get anywhere near the results she had expected. Karuna was trained only to obey the exact cue in order to respond to it.  
  
It made sense when Kaoru came to think of it - how else would she know to sidepass and not rear, flying lead change and not lash out with her hind legs? It was probably for Kaoru's benefit she had been trained this way or else Kaoru would have ended up nursing injuries after incorrectly giving her the wrong command and ending up being thrown from her back when she responded not as Kaoru had expected her to do.  
  
After Karuna was groomed and turned out in the pasture with the other horses they broke for lunch. The food never stayed the same for two days in a row: soup one day, a thick sandwich the next, a crispy meat filled pastry, some odd kind of noodle dish that made Kaoru think it was more some kind of salad than actual pasta.  
  
Afterward it would be time for Kaoru's session with Megumi and learning how to speak the language (Kaoru kept referring to it as the language, calling it Hitenese for instance sound queer to her ears). It was an easy language to grasp, hard to use. The majority of it was comprised of one to three syllable words and pitch in voice, speed of which spoken at and placement in sentence could alter and change the meanings of the words.  
  
Megumi had used examples to help Kaoru comprehend how the language was to be spoken: wa was night, darv was the word for soul but wadarv meant nightfall. When said in a louder tone of voice jasr mean home and when said in a lower tone of voice it could be used as a word for death.  
  
Kaoru found she had to be acutely aware of each word she spoke in order to convey the correct meaning. She didn't want to end up accidentally offending anybody or saying something that did not make much sense and end up looking like a fool!  
  
Megumi was civil to her. Her words were still comprised very much so of veiled insults and she continually found amazement in how little Kaoru had been taught of their culture. Everyone in Hiten could speak Kasshin fluently as well as the other languages of the countries surrounding the land and had at least a basic grasp of their culture and traditions. Kaoru was found ignorant in all aspects of this. The fact that her family was self absorbed and cared little for anything else but themselves was glaringly obvious.  
  
Misao and Yahiko she rarely saw. They were both in quarters far away from her own and were being given lessons just as she was. One time Kaoru had run into Misao in the hallways the other girl had not spoken much beside swooning over the current leader of the Oniwabanshuu, Aoshi and speaking about him in worshipful tones of voice.  
  
Yahiko was quite content here. He was treated better than he had ever been at the palace and had become quite good friends with a boy his age named Yutaro. Once he had gotten over his gladness of seeing her he, (as was normal for him) started calling her ugly as he always had. Kaoru supposed he was doing well if his actions were any indication.  
  
Her friends happy here Kaoru found herself liking the place as well. The ache of missing her old home quickly dwindled to a dull throb that would flare only when she remembered some (rare) sweet memory. No, she was finding she did not mind living here. She had people who thought she actually mattered and took interest in her, who did not belittle her (except for Megumi) and seemed to care about her - that was more than she could say about her old home.  
  
Yes Kaoru found she was happy - enough to be content here. She only had one problem and its (his?) name was Kenshin.  
  
She rarely saw him.  
  
She might catch him out of the corner of her eye as she walked down one of the numerous hallways or see a flash of red as he disappeared around a corner. If she didn't know any better Kaoru would have said he was avoiding her but that was silly. He had requested for her (okay so not exactly _her_ but he had made it quite clear that whoever the Kasshin Royals had chosen must leave and come here) and for him to avoid her was ridiculous.  
  
He probably had tons of responsibilities but how hard could it be to make a few moments time if even once a day for his (supposed? Kaoru certainly didn't feel like one) queen - consort or whatever exactly it was that her title was called? Kaoru had barely spoken a handful of words to him. How was she to get to know him if they never interacted?  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru sighed softly, laying her head back to nestle against the soft grass. The sky above was blue studded with white fluffy clouds. The sun shone brightly and a soft breeze blue. It was a beautiful day.  
  
Nearby the water fountain gurgled slightly. The palace was full of gardens of every shape and size. Some were even themed! Kaoru had laughed upon stumbling into one where everything seemed purple - even the bark on the trees had, had a purplish tinge to it.  
  
Every one was beautifully kept, not a one over grown or neglected. Kaoru wondered when they would take care of them. She never saw anyone in the gardens (except for that one time with Kenshin).  
  
A tall tree towered over her. It was full of red flowers in the shape of stars that gave off a slightly fruity perfume. One drifted down to land on the ground beside her and Kaoru picked it up and tucked it lazily behind an ear.  
  
Closing her eyes she yawned and stretched feeling very much like one of those cats who curled up on the windowsills and slept in the sun. It was definitely comfortable enough to sleep here. She found her eyes drifting shut and then opened them upon hearing something.  
  
It wasn't a sound exactly. It was more a whisper like the sound of displaced air. Getting to her feet Kaoru cocked her head curiously, listening intently.  
  
There it was again.  
  
Curious to find out exactly what it was she walked in the direction of which it came from. Her feet made no sound against the soft grass as she walked and Kaoru had the odd feeling that she was not walking but floating.  
  
A moment or so later she found out what the sound was - and who was making it.  
  
Kenshin stood with his back to her in a stance that she idly remembered was one that was used when sword fighting. Okina had gone over some of the different techniques that could be used and mimicked them as he had done so. This stance was one he had illustrated but its name eluded her.  
  
As she watched his hand seemed to blur and faster than she could blink the sword that always hung around his waist was in his hand in an arch of silver. He was doing katas, his movements sharp, precise, blindingly fast and with a kind of deadly grace that she found fascinating.  
  
He was wearing a golden gi the color of his eyes and an ivory colored hakama. The gi was open enough for Kaoru to get a very nice view of what was it was supposed to be covering. She gave herself a mental slap. So what he was good looking (gorgeous) - so had been many of the princes in the Kasshin Court. The vast majority of them (all) had been perverted snobs.  
  
Beauty wasn't everything.  
  
There was a blur out of the corner of her eye and the next second Kaoru found a blade pressed against her throat. 


	5. Chapter 5

Ravyn - Yeah I do kind of get a "Blue Sword" vibe from this story. Its one of my favorite books of all time and I absolutely love Robin McKinley's work. She's such an amazingly creative author and if you have never read any of her books I highly advise you to do so.  
  
I tried to get one of my friends to read the Blue Sword but she couldn't get past the "orange juice" part and since then refuses to read any book any book I recommend ::rolls eyes::  
  
Anyway on with the chapter!  
  
~LadyShiin  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru's breath caught in her throat and she froze. That was probably a good reaction, had she moved she would without a doubt be missing her head. But the identity of the wielder of the sword was enough to keep her still from shock alone.  
  
It was Kenshin.  
  
But this. this was not Kenshin. Something seemed altered, warped almost. Even in her few meetings of him she knew there was something wrong. He was different from the times before.  
  
His eyes were the golden color of flames, yet as cold as ice. They were like frozen fire. His pupils were mere pinpricks. His face was twisted into a snarl that was almost feral in its intensity. Any trace of former humanity was gone. It had disappeared only to be replaced, by madness near to insanity.  
  
Looking at him now Kaoru understood why her family had referred to him at times as the "Mad King." He looked like someone possessed and acted more like a beast than a human.  
  
"Kenshin," Kaoru murmured softly. The movement of throat against the blade caused a thin line of red to appear.  
  
Kenshin's eyes narrowed and there was no trace of recognition in their golden depths. He growled softly and his breathing was rapid and heavy with a harsh tone to it.  
  
"Kenshin," Kaoru repeated softly, soothingly as one would speak to a frightened animal intent on calming it.  
  
There was still no recognition but the pressure of the sword lessened slightly. Kaoru fought the urge to step back away from him, if she moved he would attack again and this time he would kill her - she knew that almost instinctively.  
  
"Kenshin. put the sword down. Just put it down. I'm not your enemy; I'm not going to hurt you. Put the sword down please." Kaoru didn't know how many times she repeated the words; they became a litany she recited.  
  
Kenshin put the sword down; oh please put the sword down.  
  
Kenshin's eyes were still wild - but ever so slightly she noticed him relaxing slightly. She continued to talk keeping her words soft and soothing in tone. Kenshin's breathing had calmed until it was almost normal now. His golden eyes had begun to soften the pupils returning to normal in size.  
  
"Please Kenshin, put the sword down," Kaoru coaxed. "Just put it down." The scratch on her neck was bleeding slightly; she could feel the blood trickling down her neck.  
  
Slowly Kenshin closed his eyes. When he opened them again they held a gentler, saner look in them. His gaze was more focused than before and it was as if he was actually looking at her now rather than looking through her as he had been before. Kaoru relaxed somewhat upon seeing them like this.  
  
". Kaoru?" His voice was tentative. He seemed surprised to see her there. With a start Kaoru realized this was the first time he had ever spoken to her using her name.  
  
"It's me Kenshin. Would you put the sword down?" She asked.  
  
Kenshin's eyes widened and he seemed to realize at just that moment the position they were in. Stepping away from her he lowered the sword from her throat.  
  
"I'm sorry." He seemed uncomfortable; shifting from foot to foot in a way that reminded her of a young child who had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to and now dreaded whatever punishment would be afflicted upon him for his misdeeds.  
  
"It's okay. No harm done." She assured him. She wondered why she wasn't yelling at him, she would have been doing so at anyone else who had just done what he had done. But maybe it was the look he had in his eyes, like a kicked puppy. There was shame in his eyes, sadness and something else, something she felt she should recognize but couldn't name.  
  
"In the future. don't come near me when I am as I was before. Next time. it might not end like this." Next time I may kill you - if only by accident, he did not speak the words but Kaoru could sense that was what he meant.  
  
"I won't. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."  
  
Kenshin's eyes widened even further, "you shouldn't be apologizing. it's I that should be doing so."  
  
Kaoru shook her head, "no it was not your fault. it was an accident."  
  
"An accident," Kenshin murmured softly his tone bitter. He shook his head sharply as if riding himself of thoughts he rather not be thinking. His skin was pale, eyes huge in his face. "I must go."  
  
The way he looked now suddenly reminded Kaoru of a caged animal who had just realized it was caged and terrified of being so.  
  
He turned abruptly and was gone so fast Kaoru didn't even get a chance to call after him.  
  
Kaoru stared at the spot he had just been, brows furrowed. He was so damned confusing. two sides of the same coin: the polite, if distant Kenshin she had encountered just now and the almost bestial half-sane one he had been before. What had happened to make him this way?  
  
She raised a hand to massage her temples in a vain attempt to ward off the headache she was getting. The scratch on her neck still trickled blood and she was only now aware of the pain that fright and shock had kept at bay.  
  
She'd need someone to look after it in order to make sure it did not get infected or worse. Leaving the garden behind her she went in search of a healer.  
  
~*~  
  
Megumi glared disapprovingly at Kaoru, "how did you get a cut like that? You try to slit your throat and fail? If you despise living here so much we can easily send you back, you know."  
  
Kaoru glared at, "I did not cause this." She snapped. "If you want someone to yell at you can go yell at Kenshin."  
  
"Kenshin?" Megumi repeated sounding dumbfounded. "You say Kenshin did this to you?"  
  
"I kinda. startled him when he was doing his katas." Kaoru said softly.  
  
Megumi said a word Kaoru had not yet been taught. She assumed it was either some kind of swear or a prayer to some god. "And you're still alive after that?" She shook her head, "the gods must be on your side."  
  
At Kaoru's inquiring gaze she elaborated. "You _do not_ go near Kenshin when he is like that. Kenshin. he's not exactly what could be termed as sane. When he has a sword in hand, he's not the same as he usually is and you better be prepared to stay out of his way or end up getting killed."  
  
"How did he come to be like that?" Kaoru asked.  
  
Megumi shook her head, "it's not my place to say."  
  
Kaoru growled softly, "Megumi! First of I'm supposed to be married or whatever you call my engagement to him and second of all he almost slit my throat! I think I have a right to know!"  
  
"Yeah, I guess you do." Megumi fidgeted slightly and that enough was to make Kaoru stare. Professional, cool and composed (when she wasn't snapping at Kaoru) Megumi fidgeting?  
  
"It all has to do with Kenshin's parents I guess you could say. It all started because of them... In our land the high and noble born do not usually marry in what you may call love-matches. Most marriages are arranged, for power, land or political reasons. the ones to be married usually have no prior contact with each other before and no choice in the matter."  
  
"We have marriages much like that in Kasshin - and the engagement I'm in with Kenshin is similar." Kaoru murmured.  
  
Megumi nodded, "The old King and Queen were married much like this. In some marriages the couple sometimes does grow to love each other. not with one. The King and Queen hated each other. Still from their union they had six sons and everyone thought that despite their obvious resentment to each other everything would be fine." Megumi closed her eyes and shook her head slightly.  
  
"All that changed when Kenshin was born. You see. his father was the King yes, but his mother was not the Queen. His mother was one of the Queen's handmaidens. and his birth nearly destroyed everything.  
  
"The Queen killed his mother upon finding the identity of his father. She may have hated him but she could not stand the fact that he could love another that was not her. The King in turn killed her. It was said by those around him that he loved Kenshin's mother as he had never loved the Queen." Megumi closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and continuing with the tale.  
  
"The King decreed that Kenshin was to be raised as would any true son of his be raised - instead of the bastard child he was in all actuality. He would be trained as all the others with no distinction between them. The Queen's sons - Kenshin's half brothers hated him. They blamed him for their mother's death." Megumi's fists clenched, becoming white knuckled.  
  
"They would torture him, beating him. the scar he has on his face happened when the eldest of his half brothers thought it would be fun to put his eyes out. Kenshin's eyes probably reminded them of his mother who had been the cause of their mother's death. Despite this all he never complained, never told anyone. Broken bones. bruises, he never did anything about them."  
  
Megumi's mouth was a grim line. "He only told me once what they did to him. And when he did so he laughed - it wasn't a happy laugh either. 'It's my atonement for being the accident that I am, he said. That's what they would always tell him he was - an unwanted accident."  
  
Kaoru felt her throat close up. 'It was just an accident Kenshin.' No wonder he had looked the way he had, acted the way he had when she had said that.  
  
"When the King died there was a leadership battle. There always is one if the former King has more than one son. In our land only the strongest may lead us and so those of Royal Blood - even the Half-bloods fight for the right to lead."  
  
Megumi got to her feet and walked around the room, needing to move around and no longer able to keep still. Her face was pale with memory.  
  
"Kenshin was only fifteen when he fought. He had always been a good fighter - as good as any of his half brothers. No matter what they did to him though, he would not fight back - he stood there and let them do whatever they wanted to him. But when he fought them in the leadership battle it was not fighting - it was slaughter.  
  
"He changed that day. Everything about him changed. Before his name had been Shinta - boy with a heart - in our language. He changed his name to Kenshin - boy with a hole in his heart. His eyes had been violet before, but no longer. They are gold now and have been so since that day. He may have won the right to be King but the cost was great." There were tears in Megumi's eyes as she reflected on what had happened.  
  
"His mother was my mother's sister. I hated how he was treated; I did my best to be there for him when we were children. I love him and seeing what he has become since that day hurts me more than anything else. His soul shattered that day Kaoru. He was no longer Shinta - sweet and happy despite everything that he was put through - he became Kenshin and everything that made him Shinta before died."  
  
There were tears in Kaoru's eyes. They were falling down her face, somehow she didn't notice.  
  
"I think it was the ease in which he killed them that shocked him. He never gave them a chance. There was no honor in the bloodshed in those fights and Kenshin has always had his own odd sense of honor."  
  
Megumi laughed softly. "Listen to me rambling on and on. Well now you know about him and what he's been through. You asked and there are your answers." Megumi eyed her critically for a moment. "You should be fine now the bleeding is stopped and I'll give you some cream to put on the cut when it hurts."  
  
Kaoru nodded wordlessly.  
  
"Here," Megumi turned and rummaged through one of the cabinets that held medicine. Finding a small jar she took it out and handed it to Kaoru. "Here's the cream. If it doesn't stop bleeding or doesn't show any sign of getting better once a few days have passed you come back to me."  
  
Kaoru took it from her and attempted to smile. "Thank you."  
  
"No," Megumi sighed. "You had a right to know."  
  
~*~  
  
Not much later Kaoru sat on the windowsill in her room gazing out the window. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and tucked under chin with her arms wrapped around them loosely. A bird flew past the window and she followed it with unseeing eyes.  
  
How Kenshin had been treated. how she had been treated. they weren't much different. Kaoru's wounds were more mental than physical but nonetheless hurt equally.  
  
We're both bastards, she thought. Wanted or not we're the same.  
  
Soon after Kaoru's birth she had been abandoned by her mother and raised in the palace crèche with the other children. She barely knew her mother and all she knew of her father was that he was one of the many princes. At least Kenshin's parents had loved each other, and at least his father had wanted him instead of throwing him away upon birth like her mother had.  
  
Kaoru pushed her thoughts away. The past was past and nothing could change it. What was done was done and nothing could alter that. She dropped her chin to her knees and closed her eyes. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes.  
  
We've both been wounded by our so called families. Both of them rejected and hated us. The tears flowed stronger and Kaoru couldn't stop them even if she had wished to do so. She cried for the both of them because he had never allowed himself to cry. He had never allowed himself to fight back and when he had he ended up destroying his soul from the pain and death he found he had caused.  
  
After a long time when her tears subsided and no longer fell Kaoru raised her head. Outside her window it was dark; the stars were just starting to appear in the sky. See a star make a wish.  
  
Make a wish, she thought. What should I wish for? I wish. I wish for Kenshin to be happy to no longer hurt anymore. I wish.for the both of us to find peace and let go of our pasts.  
  
Outside her window the stars twinkled merrily and Kaoru found herself smiling, some of the sadness she felt fading away. What was the saying that Tae her foster mother had always said again?  
  
Reach for the moon - because even if you fall you will still be among the stars.  
  
Kaoru rubbed the last tears from her eyes and raised her head. The past no longer mattered. It was the future now that was important. The future was wide and open - full of promise.  
  
I'll help you Kenshin, Kaoru promised. We'll help each other.  
  
She stared out the window watching the stars until she finally fell asleep.  
  
~*~  
  
I remember reading somewhere that Shinta means "Boy with a heart" and Kenshin means "Boy with a hole in his heart."  
  
~LadyShiin 


	6. Chapter 6

Yes, I finally have a plot thought out! ^.^ I am a happy LadyShiin that I am. It means you will no longer get odd rambling things and finally some action - just give me a chapter or two more - and yes there will be Kenshin- Kaoru interaction ^.~  
  
So please look forward to it and as always: read, enjoy and review!  
  
~LadyShiin  
  
~*~  
  
The dreams came almost every night. They never stayed the exact same each time but shared a common theme: the shadow-woman mumbled in riddles about destiny, Kaoru's connection to 'he' who ever 'he' was and how everything would...could fall into disaster if they did not fight whatever it was that was to come.  
  
It was dark as it always was in her dreams. The lamp flickered and fluctuated as it never had before. It had always remained steady...now the light constantly shifted, dying and then brightening, fading ever so slightly before wavering back into steady light once more.  
  
The shadow-woman had a desperate air about her as she worked -- fingers flying, hands never still as she wove.  
  
The thread yanked viciously almost succeeding in pulling Kaoru off her feet. Stumbling slightly, she fought to remain standing and to keep her balance. Still, she let it draw her nearer towards the tapestry and did not protest, loudly at least. She merely gritted her teeth in annoyance.  
  
Kaoru blinked suddenly.  
  
Something had changed...altered. There was her blue thread wound tightly about he violet-gold one -- as always. But, there was something...different about it.  
  
Blinking again she saw why the tapestry looked unfamiliar. The joined threads had split into other smaller ones. They branched off the main blue- violet-gold thread into several others.  
  
The joined thread before had always ran in one straight line, upwards in a single thread. It had remained whole and complete no matter what. Nothing made it change not even as the background against it shifted in color from white to black.  
  
But peering closely Kaoru saw some threads remained in the white section of the tapestry. Others were in the black -- still some more could be found in the area where white and black melted together to form gray.  
  
"What has happened? It was never like this before."  
  
The shadow-woman did not answer for several moments and Kaoru was not even sure she had heard her speak. So she waited...the shadow-woman did not always answer at once, as she now knew from experience.  
  
Finally the shadow-woman did speak. "Where once there was just one sure destiny now there are many others to contend with. Some good, some bad... This could ruin everything that it could." Her voice was mournful. "Countless destinies, are what they have become. Countless futures and paths that can be taken." She gestured toward the tapestry with a hand.  
  
Kaoru could easily see what she meant. Some of the threads were warped, tangled in tight knots that looked impossible to unravel. Others just ended abruptly usually surrounded by black. Some were torn and dangled from the tapestry limply as dead as anything she had ever seen.  
  
She shivered.  
  
"What caused this?" She asked.  
  
"What causes anything? Fate of course little one. Fate causes, you alter. That is the way of destiny."  
  
"How do I alter anything?" Kaoru felt confused, something that was familiar to her when it came to dealing with the shadow-woman.  
  
"Fate hands you a choice and you either take it or choose another." The shadow-woman tsked softly as if it was commonplace knowledge that Kaoru by all right should have known.  
  
It made sense, Kaoru had to agree. "How do I know which choice is the correct one?"  
  
The shadow-woman gave a bark of laughter. Kaoru flinched at the harsh sound. It was cynical almost. "You don't little one. You don't know which choice or even choices are correct that is the game Fate plays with you...so many questions you ask today." She shook her head. "It is not right for you to ask so many questions, you must remained ignorant of your destiny and that is all I can tell you -- the only question I can give answer to."  
  
"Consider me ignorant then," Kaoru muttered almost bitterly.  
  
Though she could not see it, she could sense the smile the shadow-woman had on her face. "That I do little one and that you must remain. And now you must go -- you have lingered here too long little one. To the waking world you must return."  
  
And the dream faded around her from her memory.  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru leaned against the fence that kept the horses enclosed in it. The field was huge...several acres if her eyes told her right. A clear rushing creek cut across it and one corner was full of tall, shade-giving trees. Kaoru wondered how big exactly the palace was...the City even. This field alone had enough land to hold a good sized village.  
  
The horses stood in the center of the field, some grazed, others dozed in the bright warm sunlight. Kaoru easily spotted Karuna - she was the only palomino in a herd of roans, bays, chestnuts, blacks and grays.  
  
As she watched the mare tossed her head and broke into a trot circling around the herd. A few horses raised their heads to watch her but mostly they ignored her. Kaoru felt a grin stretch across her lips, Karuna had a mischievous streak to her (as she had come to find out during the times she groomed her. Karuna loved to pick up a brush -- usually the one she was about to use next -- in her teeth and hold it up high so Kaoru had to jump for it).  
  
Karuna came to a stop a few feet away from Fiachra Kenshin's stallion. He was a tall horse nearly seventeen hands high a deep bronze chestnut color with a mane and tail almost the exact shade as Kenshin's eyes.  
  
Judging from the tilt of Karuna's head and body language she was up to something. Kaoru watched as she suddenly darted forward to nip Fiachra's shoulder before springing away a few feet. Her actions all but yelled "let's play" and Kaoru smothered a laugh as she saw Fiachra hadn't moved a foot.  
  
That didn't sit well with Karuna. She nipped him again on the other side this time before racing away, hind legs lashing the air as she bucked. Fiachra took after her this time and they raced around the field, her in the lead at first but him slowly gaining with every stride. Just as they drew even Karuna whirled away from him and came to a stop, her ears perked, looking pleased with herself.  
  
Fiachra returned to grazing and Karuna trotted away head and tail high. She must have heard Kaoru's laugh because her ears swiveled in her direction and she cantered towards her to come to a stop a few feet away from the fence.  
  
Nickering softly she thrust her head against Kaoru's chest and Kaoru rubbed her ears. "Having fun?" She asked.  
  
Karuna stood the attention a few more minutes before turning and trotting away. Finding a patch of grass she liked she settled down to graze.  
  
Kaoru watched her for a few more minutes before to turning away.  
  
~*~  
  
How many weeks had gone by since they had arrived here? Kaoru wondered. Fourteen...fifteen? Time passed easily here and it was very hard to keep track of it. They had all settled in their new home with relative ease.  
  
Seeing Misao or Yahiko was a rare occurrence. Yahiko spent most of his time training with swords -- something that had been denied to him in Kasshin and from the few times Kaoru had seen him practicing she had been impressed. He was very good with them.  
  
Sightings of Misao proved less elusive.  
  
You only had to find where the captain of the guard was - Aoshi - and there would be Misao not far away. It was quite amusing if Kaoru though about it. Misao - who had never shown the slightest interest in any guy before -- had suddenly fallen head over heels with Aoshi - who did not really seem to notice her; something Misao was determined to change.   
  
Kaoru wished her luck. Aoshi was as bad -- if not worse than Kenshin when you tried to talk to him.  
  
Since the incident in the garden Kenshin had been avoiding her -- and yes this time Kaoru was certain he was. She'd catch brief snatches of him the hall and as soon as she tried to catch up to him he would disappear. It was getting very frustrating.  
  
Here in Hiten; Balls, Dances and other things of related matter were almost nonexistent. Kaoru was both glad of them and a bit annoyed. Having to attend a ball with Kenshin would make it easier for her to get him alone and talk to him. Yet she had an intense dislike of partaking in such activities. Most of her memories of balls at Kasshin consisted of eluding drunken nobles who were intent on dragging her to bed with them -- willing or not.  
  
Thinking of it now made Kaoru shudder.  
  
Another thing too tickled at the back of her mind -- what were the terms of her marriage...engagement... Whatever it was called to Kenshin exactly? He never touched her or made any advances in nature of a bedmates or possible lover so it was clear he did not see her that way.  
  
Some kind of trophy perhaps? Kaoru dismissed the idea. She was not what others would call a trophy. A trophy was beautiful (that description was somewhat accurate at least), had good manners or was well versed in etiquette (Kaoru failed at that, her etiquette was dismal and threadbare) and usually held some kind of prestige (once more that was a word that could not be attached to Kaoru. She had been a cast off, half-blood and holding no more prestige than a common servant). No, she was not a trophy in any sense.  
  
But then why demand a Kasshin Royal Blood? Why threaten with war? What could be gained by doing so -- what value did she have to Kenshin that he would resort to such measures in order to obtain her (or one somewhat like her)?  
  
Questions upon more questions...every one needing an answer and yet finding none. Kaoru's frustration with the circumstances surrounding her was growing. And she fully intended to do something about relieving them.  
  
Sooner or later...  
  
~*~  
  
Bright sunlight suddenly filled her room jolting Kaoru from sleep to full wakefulness. Her vision blurred as it sought to get used to the light, she blinked several times. Tsubame bustled about the room with an air of haste as if she was being made to do something in a very contained space of time.  
  
"What's the matter Tsubame?" Her sentence ended in a yawn and Kaoru clapped a hand over her mouth.  
  
"You must get ready quickly." The little girl was practically bouncing on her toes from both nervousness, anticipation and excitement.  
  
"Why?" Another yawn. It was earlier than usual for Tsubame to wake her up. Kaoru wondered why she had done so.  
  
"Everyone is leaving ... well not everyone mostly the king and his guard and those attached to them."  
  
"Right now?" The question sounded stupid even to her own ears but Kaoru was still half-asleep and couldn't really think of a better one to ask at the moment.  
  
"Soon. Very soon." Tsubame replied.  
  
"Why though?" The question sounded smarter than the one before a sign she was beginning to fully wake up.  
  
"The king never spends long in the City." Tsubame said matter of factly.  
  
"Oh." Was all Kaoru could say. She felt herself relax somewhat, there went her fears of the City being attacked by an army or rival country.  
  
"Start getting ready then. I've already packed the things you'll need to take with you." Kaoru felt grateful to her. She highly doubted she would have been able to, much less know what to pack for where ever they were leaving to.  
  
"When do we leave?" Kaoru pushed back the covers of her bed and got out.  
  
"Before the sun gets high in the sky." Tsubame promptly answered.  
  
Kaoru cast a glance outside her window at the sun. It was already starting to rise, she didn't have much time to get ready.  
  
"Here." Tsubame held out a trouser and tunic to Kaoru. At least that settled the question of what Kaoru was to wear.  
  
Kaoru took them with a smile of gratitude.  
  
"I'll be back in a moment with breakfast." Tsubame promised before disappearing.  
  
The trouser and tunic were dark earthy colors. Kaoru supposed it was because wherever they were going would be dirty and bathing and laundry would be hard to do and dark colors did not show stains as easily as lighter colors. She dressed quickly. The tunic was long sleeved and high necked. The trousers were comfortable with odd patches sewn in the inside of the legs, Kaoru thought it was because they would be riding when they left. Carriages were unheard of in Hiten.  
  
Tsubame had left a pair of boots as well. Odd lace up ones with heels that were comfortable yet tough.  
  
Tsubame came back moments later with breakfast. Kaoru barely tasted it as she ate. She only managed to eat half of it and Tsubame took it away once she saw Kaoru would not eat another bite.  
  
Kaoru undid her bedtime braid and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail. Her brushes she tucked into one of the bags Tsubame had left in her room, she wasn't sure if Tsubame had packed other brushes or hair related matter and didn't want to be without one.  
  
As she finished getting ready Tsubame appeared once more to take her bags away. Kaoru wondered if she would be coming along and asked her so. Tsubame answered no -- she was a City-servant and would be staying here.  
  
Kaoru wished she would be coming along. Tsubame was one of the few friends she had made here and it would be odd to be without her.  
  
Outside her rooms the hallways were packed with servants rushing about to prepare for everything. Everything seemed to be spread over a few hours in one single day and Kaoru did not envy them the rush in which they had to get everything prepared. She wondered if Kenshin was the type who just announced they were going out of the blue -- it certainly seemed so from the looks of it.  
  
The stables were even busier than inside the palace. The riding horses that would be going were in the middle of being groomed and tacked up. Pack horses were being outfitted with what gear they would be carrying. It was like carefully controlled chaos, kept tightly reined in but it could explode at any given moment.  
  
Above them the sun climbed higher and higher in the sky and Kaoru fought the urge to not fidget. How much time had passed since Tsubame had awoken her? Not much she was certain, but then again it wouldn't be that long until they had to leave so not much could in all actuality be quite a lot.  
  
There was a murmur from behind her and she turned to see Kenshin walking toward her with a gathering of the guard who she supposed would be coming along with them. She felt some relief to see Misao and Yahiko among them. Okina and Megumi were there as well. All were dressed as she was in tunic and riding pants.  
  
The horses were lead out -- some sixty in all. They were a jumbled flash of color to Kaoru's eyes and she somehow found herself standing beside Karuna. Feeling as if she was disconnected from it all Kaoru put a foot in the stirrup and swung aboard. The mare pranced slightly underneath her, mouthing at the bit. Kaoru stroked her neck absentmindedly with a hand.  
  
Beside her Kenshin sat on Fiachra. The stallion's neck was tense and bowed a foreleg pawing restlessly into the ground. Suddenly he threw his head up and let out a shrill ringing neigh. When the sound died away into the air Kaoru saw Kenshin had raised his arm.  
  
"Let's go."  
  
It took a moment for her to realize he had said it in Hiten and not her own tongue -- which everyone around her seemed to have adopted when addressing her or speaking when near her. The fact that she could understand (some of) the words being spoken around her made her nervousness ease. But then again if she couldn't at least speak some of it by now Megumi would have her head.  
  
As one the horses broke into a trot. The sound of their hooves echoed loudly in the air around her adding to the feeling of it being all very surreal. They spilled from the palace and into the City streets. People gathered at the edges to watch them go and wave.  
  
They were leaving.  
  
Kaoru was going back into the country she barely knew and was leaving the only thing she considered familiar in this entire place. The land stretched out before her as they broke into a gallop -- alien and unfamiliar once again.  
  
~*~ 


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you for the reviews!! :: hugs her reviewers and gives the chocolate chip cookies:: ^.^ And we finally get some Kenshin/Kaoru interaction  
  
~LadyShiin  
  
~*~  
  
Now Kaoru understood why they wanted to get underway before the sun got too high in the sky.  
  
It was hot.  
  
No, correct that - it was really, really hot. Earlier the heat had been bearable when they had ridden through the forests that edged the City. The tall towering trees had provided good shade. Now though, they rode in the open and it was bare of any real chance of covering for miles. The heat had risen once more as a result.  
  
Sweat trickled down Kaoru's neck and her hair clung to the back of it. She wished desperately for a breeze. Her entire body ached bordering on the edge of exhausted numbness.  
  
Okina's riding lessons hadn't prepared her for the hours they would be spending on horseback - and this was only the first day. Kaoru didn't relish the thought of more riding in days to come. She hoped the aches and pains would fade away and disappear soon as her body grew accustomed to riding such long hours.  
  
The riders had slowed to a walk to make it easier for the horses. Karuna's step was still energetic and smooth beneath Kaoru despite the mare's obvious tiredness. Her head was up, ears pricked, and her eyes were alert and watching everything with interest. Her neck and shoulders had darkened to brown with sweat and foam dripped from her bit as she mouthed it.  
  
Kenshin rode beside her on Fiachra. He looked relaxed and comfortable not he least bit sweaty or tired as Kaoru felt. She wondered how he did it - or maybe he was just so used to riding in such heat that it had ceased to bother him.  
  
Fiachra's step was still bouncy though his coat was nearly black from sweating and his mane was curled from the dampness. Every so often he would shake his head wanting to run and resisting being kept to a walk.  
  
Kenshin had been silent since they first started out. Any attempts for conversation by Kaoru were met by monosyllabic and short curt answers. She had given up on speaking to him all together, too tired to keep trying where her efforts were not rewarded.  
  
Everyone had fallen silent by now - even Misao's seemingly ceaseless chatter (directed mainly toward Aoshi who was riding beside her) had quieted down and finally disappeared all together.  
  
It would be hours until sunset when they would finally stop. Kaoru felt tired enough to fall asleep this very moment and found herself pondering how good a bed Karuna's saddle would make. Falling asleep in the saddle seemed a close reality at the present moment.  
  
She was saved from actually testing this idea out when Kenshin suddenly reined Fiachra to a halt. They had stopped before a small cluster of trees - barely taller than Kaoru was herself. They were few in number but enough to provide some measure of shade. A small shallow creek curled around them.  
  
Kenshin dismounted and Kaoru followed suit.  
  
Her knees buckled slightly as her feet touched the ground and she leaned against Karuna to keep from collapsing completely. The mare turned her head to eye Kaoru and she rubbed her muzzle soothingly.  
  
Around her the others had dismounted and she followed them to where the horses were being lead into a small fenced enclosure that was quickly being assembled as a sort of makeshift paddock. The packs and tack were stripped off the horses and the sweat and dirt of the day was being brushed away. Kaoru undid the Karuna's girth and pulled the saddle off her back.  
  
Karuna's saddle seemed heavier than it ever had been before. Stumbling slightly under its weight and with the bridle slung over one shoulder Kaoru set the tack down with the rest. She then grabbed some brushes from the pile on the ground and went to finish tending to Karuna. The mare stood where she had left her, too well trained to move or perhaps too tired to do so.  
  
The mare sighed with pleasure as Kaoru groomed her, leaning against the brush strokes. Kaoru made sure to get all the dirt off especially around the sensitive girth area to protect against the forming of sores. A quick touch to the chest confirmed that the mare was cool enough not to need to be walked and Kaoru shooed her away toward the other horses.  
  
Now with Karuna tended to and happily grazing on the sparse scattering of grass that she had managed to find Kaoru took care of herself.  
  
The smell of cooking meat hung in the air and Kaoru stepped into the line that had formed to get food. A sloppy meat stew and rice was ladled onto her plate along with a dry hunk of traveling bread and a cup of ahvay.  
  
A bonfire had been built up in the center of the little camp encircled by the tents that had been assembled. Night had fallen quicker than Kaoru had ever seen it do so before. She was used to long days of sunlight with lingering sunsets that heralded the fall of night - not this short hot day with an almost nonexistent sunset and a swift descent of night. It seemed like only moments before the day had been bright, with the sun high in the sky.  
  
Misao and Yahiko were sitting off the side in range of the fire's glow and warmth. As suddenly as night had fallen so too had the temperature, the heat had dashing away to be replaced by a nearly frigid chill. Kaoru was glad for the heat the fire offered.  
  
Misao looked half asleep and even Yahiko looked drowsy. Both looked up however at her approach and as she settled herself down beside them.  
  
Misao offered a tiny tired smile her eyes dull with fatigue. "I hope I don't feel so tired after every day of riding like this." She paused between words to yawn.  
  
Yahiko nodded in agreement, his eyes half-lidded with tiredness.  
  
"We'll probably get used to it." Kaoru said optimistically taking a sip of her drink. Its warmth revived her somewhat and she didn't feel as tired as she had initially.  
  
Misao yawned again and took a bit of the meat stew making a face at its toughness. "I hope we don't have to live on this." She wrinkled her pert nose slightly.  
  
"I don't mind as long as Kaoru doesn't cook it." Yahiko swallowed his bite.  
  
Kaoru glared at him and he glared back at her.  
  
With a sigh Kaoru took another sip of her drink and cradled the mug between her palms letting its heat soak into her bones. The air was cold! She set the mug down beside her and picked up the plate and began to eat the meat stew and rice using the chunk of bread to mop up the remaining juices. It wasn't particularly tasty but it did its job and filled her up.  
  
Misao yawned again looking ready to fall asleep on the hard ground. Yahiko's head bobbed slightly in contrast Kaoru felt quite peppy and awake. Somewhere in the distance Kaoru heard a faint strain of music. flute she thought. drums as well and other instruments she didn't recognize. Before the only sounds to be heard were the murmur of voices, the sound of the horses eating, the soft gurgle of the brook, and the snap and crack of the fire.  
  
As she watched figures stepped out of the shadows and into the light cast by the fire. Misao and Yahiko raised their heads looking a tad more alert and as the people before them began to sing:  
  
"Don't you forget the echoes of time," - A woman's voice started it.  
  
"Won't you regret the losing of minds?" - A man's voice took up the song.  
  
"In my dreams I'm searching across the desert sands, for you." - The woman and man together.  
  
"Scimitar moon is guiding me close to your side."  
  
The music picked up and becoming more energetic and the people began to dance, whirling and twirling, weaving between partners or dancing alone, in pairs or in trios. If they had been tired before it seemed to have disappeared all together and soon the people around them began to get up from where they sat to join in the dance.  
  
Kaoru remained sitting, content to just watch. The dance was beautiful, wild and independent yet at the same time choreographed so that the dancers mimicked one another's moves but were still able to add their own flair and vivacity that was uniquely their own.  
  
Misao got to her feet intent on dancing as well (she had caught sight of Aoshi on the other side of the circle around the fire) and Yahiko looked interested enough that Kaoru shoved him toward the fire to go dance.  
  
The voices of the singers wove hauntingly insubstantial curving and swooping around the notes of the music. They passed the song back and forth to on another no one person singing the song twice and a new one taking it up at the beginning of each new line.  
  
"Splendor of a thousand suns shone glory in my path  
No love more pure and rage more fierce  
Could still my beating heart"  
  
"So  
Shall I return to trace the shadows of my chases?  
My steps will echo there from sand to stone  
I  
Will never let my eyelids close on empty spaces  
My dreams will fill the void with tales unknown  
Know the mighty infinite obscures the far horizon  
The whispered road I take will never bend  
Alone  
And will the wind return my story to its promise  
Of will my story chase me to the end?"  
  
"Melodies unspoken  
Flowing from the lotus of my heart  
Ending where we start  
Promises unbroken  
Promising a never-ending fire  
Of love beyond desire  
Ending where we start"  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru caught sight of Kenshin standing off to the side by himself. The light of the fire brought out the lighter golden highlights in his crimson hair and his eyes were the color of the leaping flames thrown from the bonfire.  
  
Setting the mug she held down on the ground beside her Kaoru got to her feet and walked over to him, dodging around the people who still sat on the ground eating.  
  
"Why do you not dance with the others?" She asked as she reached him.  
  
Misao and Yahiko were dancing now- Misao dancing with Aoshi and looking blissfully happy and Yahiko dancing alone attempting to mimic the moves of the other dancers.  
  
"I don't dance." He answered.  
  
"You're the king though." Kaoru said surprised. It was an unwritten rule that when music was being played the royals should dance (she had never seen Kenshin do so but that was how it worked at the Kasshin Court).  
  
"Does that make any difference?" He asked.  
  
"No. I suppose not." Kaoru said. "But you know the moves and I don't know the moves - so we should dance." She said it as if it made perfectly logical sense.  
  
Kenshin merely raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Come on." Kaoru said starting to sound exasperated. "I want to dance - but don't know how. You know how to dance - but you don't want to. So show me how to!"  
  
Kenshin gazed at her for a moment and she stared back unflinchingly. He gave a languid nonchalant shrug, "fine."  
  
Kaoru gave a little sound of excitement bouncing lightly on her toes. "Great! Now come on." She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the ring of dancers before had he a chance to protest.  
  
Once she was sure he wouldn't try to get away she let go of his hand turned toward him. "What do we need to do first?"  
  
"First. we need to get closer." Kenshin said. Before Kaoru could move backwards he had taken a step forward until they were nearly pressed against one another. ". Like this."  
  
Kaoru nodded feeling herself flush slightly.  
  
"Your hands move like this." He took her hands in his own placing them so they were stretched out at her sides, bent slightly at the elbow, palms upward. Kaoru's eyes widened. Kenshin actually speaking to her was a miracle that itself but actually coming into contact with her? The gods must be deciding to be nice for once.  
  
"Don't be so tense either." He stepped behind her, moving his hands along her arms to fix their position.  
  
Kaoru felt her flush spread along her face. He either knew exactly what he was doing to her or was totally oblivious. Kaoru wasn't sure which one to suspect.  
  
"Good," Kenshin said approvingly as he stepped back to view her position. Suddenly he whirled doing a complicated series of steps and leaps that made Kaoru stare in utter amazement.  
  
"I. I can't do that." She said eyes wide.  
  
"Sure you can. Just try." Kenshin replied.  
  
Tentatively Kaoru mimicked his steps and movements.  
  
"Good," Kenshin's eyes were warm the distance in them had vanished. "Just don't look so wooden."  
  
Kaoru did the moves once more; they felt smoother and more natural this time than they had before.  
  
"Shall we dance?" If she didn't know better Kaoru would have said the look in his eyes was playful - mischievous almost.  
  
She nodded, "sure." Her voice came out as a squeak. What had she gotten herself into?  
  
Another song had started up and Kaoru began to move to the melody with Kenshin dancing beside her, occasionally brushing against her.  
  
"Sing for me  
A song of life's visage  
Sing for me  
A tune of love's mirage"  
  
"Deep desires  
Sleep untold  
Whispers that echo  
In the desert of my soul"  
  
"Time is change  
Time's fool is man  
Time will escape the passing sands of time"  
  
"Pure moments of thought  
In the meaning of love  
This war is over now  
I feel I'm coming home again to you."  
  
~*~  
  
They danced to more songs together before Kaoru noticed the others starting to head away.  
  
It was late. The moon had raised high into the middle of the sky.  
  
Kaoru knew they would be starting out early in the morning. She didn't want to stop dancing just yet though - she had started enjoying herself once she had gotten into the rhythm of the steps and movements. Kenshin looked as if was enjoying himself as well - there was something in his eyes that she hadn't seen before. She would have called it life for lack of a better name.  
  
Still even she had to admit she was getting tired. As the music had begun and she had started dancing the tiredness had faded away into the back of her mind but now as the music slowed down and the last notes of music died away into the night air it came back full force.  
  
The fire still burned though it was almost empty of people now. Kaoru's gaze strayed to the tents that semi-circled the fire. "Which tent is mine?" Kaoru asked. She hated how they never told her anything, for all she knew she didn't even have a tent to sleep in (highly unlikely thought it was).  
  
"My tent is also yours."  
  
Kaoru stiffened.  
  
The tents were small and could never be called luxurious (if looking at the outsides were any indication). There wouldn't be much room for either of them in it. Kaoru felt her throat close up.  
  
If Kenshin wanted to try anything (not that he had even shown any ideas toward it previously and she wasn't sure he would) she would be powerless against him. She may be considered his wife, consort. whatever... but it didn't give him the right do anything without her permission.  
  
Kenshin touched her arm and despite herself Kaoru found herself flinching.  
  
"Are you alright?" There was nothing but concern in his voice.  
  
"Fine. I'm fine." The smile she gave him felt strained.  
  
"You might want to get to bed now its late." You - not us - not we, Kaoru felt herself relaxing slightly.  
  
"Sure." She replied.  
  
~*~  
  
Despite the fact he was the king Kenshin's tent was no larger or grander than any other's. In fact it was quite bare in appearances containing only a sleeping pallet and a few cushions thrown about haphazardly. A dim lamp hung from one of the crossed beams that supported what could be called the ceiling and Kaoru had to duck her head to keep from smacking her forehead against it as she entered.  
  
"You can sleep on the pallet." Kenshin told her.  
  
"What about you?" There was only one pallet. Where would he be sleeping?  
  
"You don't have to worry about me."  
  
"Okay then." Kaoru murmured softly. She looked down at her clothes dirt and travel stained that they were. She was too tired to change out of them and sleeping in them for one night wouldn't hurt at least. She turned to see Kenshin sitting cross legged on the floor, leaning against the cushions.  
  
"Good night. I guess." It went without saying that this was awkward. She pulled back the covers over the pallet and crawled beneath them. They were soft to the touch and warm, she snuggled into them feeling tiredness spread through her body.  
  
"Don't wake me up whatever you do." Kenshin said from where he was. "I don't. take well to being woken up."  
  
A memory of his sword pressed against her throat and his golden eyes void of humanity passed through Kaoru's mind. She shivered underneath the covers. "I won't then." She promised. "Good night Kenshin."  
  
If he said something in reply she did not hear it - she was already asleep.  
  
~*~  
  
The shadow-woman was singing as Kaoru entered the dream-world. Brief snatches of sound became clearer and more distinct as she half-walked was half-dragged toward the tapestry and the shadow-woman that sat before it. As she neared the woman's words became audible and Kaoru could make out exactly what it was that she was singing.  
  
"What you never know won't hurt you  
What you never know won't lie  
What you never know won't desert you  
What you never know won't say goodbye."  
  
"What you never know won't hurt you  
What you never know won't lie  
What you never know won't desert you  
What you never know won't make you cry."  
  
"What you never know won't hurt you  
What you never know won't lie  
What you never know won't desert  
What you'll never know unless you cry."  
  
Her tone was mournful as she sang and the words both sorrowful, and beautiful at the same time. They were almost a warning - against what Kaoru did not know. The shadow-woman's voice died away into a whisper as she uttered the last word of the song.  
  
"Hello little one," her tone was almost conversational.  
  
"Hello." Kaoru replied back. It was perhaps the first time the shadow-woman had addressed her personally and to her face.  
  
"What you never know." The shadow-woman murmured softly. "What you never know could protect you. What you never know could destroy you. What you never know could kill you and what you never know could save you. That is the way of destiny and Fate. She hides some and reveals others. She throws danger in your path and salvation at your feet. Happiness and pain go hand in hand according to her whims and wants that they do."  
  
"Yes." Kaoru found herself murmuring as if agreeing. The shadow-woman's babble was as confusing as ever and she was hard pressed to make sense of her words.  
  
"Do not understand little one? I do not blame you neither do I at times - that too is how Fate must have it and Destiny decree it."  
  
Kaoru merely sighed in response. "The all powerful Fate and Destiny," she muttered.  
  
"No, not all powerful are they." The shadow-woman answered. "The mold Fate and Destiny form around you can be broken yes. Shackles snapped off. rare it is but it does happen some times. Perhaps you will manage to do it, perhaps you will not. It remains to be seen."  
  
"Well that's a relief." Kaoru's tone was an edge short of bitter.  
  
The shadow woman laughed. "You sulk little one? Do not do that - not yet. Grief and pain shall embitter you in time as Destiny shall run its course with you. Remain cheery as long as you can - he will come to depend on you for it in The Time That Is To Come."  
  
"You always talk about this 'he'. Who is this person exactly?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"He is the one who will help guide you in the time to come and you he. Two sides of the coin are you. Two parts of a whole that you are."  
  
Kaoru felt a headache beginning to start around her temples. More senseless babble from the shadow-woman - twisted words that were tangled and matted into knots would be tough to unravel and discover their meanings.  
  
Instead of returning with a comment Kaoru found her eyes were pulled to the tapestry. As before it had altered, there was her blue melded violet-gold thread. The darkness seemed nearer than before and peering closely Kaoru saw the blue-violet-gold thread had become entangled with two others: a dark purple plum colored one and a black splotched silver one.  
  
"Do not look too hard." The shadow-woman's voice snapped her out of her scrutinizing.  
  
"It's changed again." Kaoru said to her defense.  
  
"Yes it has little one. It always changes as your destiny unfolds itself it will change many times over during The Time That Is To Come."  
  
The shadow-woman's response wasn't exactly comforting and Kaoru supposed it wasn't meant to be.  
  
"Go now little one." The shadow-woman said her voice soft. "Go now, remember no more. I shall wait here for you until our next meeting."  
  
Kaoru could feel the dream beginning to dissolve around the edges and the light from the lamp grow blindingly bright as she was thrust back into consciousness.  
  
~*~  
  
Yay! Next chapter is when things will really get underway ^.^  
  
We'll have the last two important characters introduced (cookies to who guesses who both of them are: hint, hint: threads.) And their involvement might not be exactly what you'd think it will be ::grin:: Personally I can't wait and I'll try to type up the next chapter ASAP.  
  
Also for the songs: I think I used about a quarter of the songs in Sarah Brightman's new album 'Harem' - that is my muse-album whenever I have a writing block I just turn it out and stare at the paper with a pen in hand and voila! Half an hour later I have a chapter written (not always but it does happen sometimes).  
  
1st. Song: Arabian Nights 2nd. Song: A mix of the songs 'Harem' and 'The War is over' 3rd Song (the song the shadow-woman sings): 'What you never know'  
  
~LadyShiin 


	8. Chapter 8

Cookies for Koniko-chan, MP1, and mysticdemon! You guessed right it is Tomoe and Enishi! ::tosses cookies to them::  
  
As always read, enjoy and review!  
  
~LadyShiin  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru stirred slightly as she woke - eyes fluttering, limbs stretching. Her body ached with day-old soreness, a souvenir from the day before. What had woken her up? If the darkness of the tent was any indication it was still far from dawn. So what had woken her up?  
  
She stilled her motions as she heard a sound. a muffled sort of moan. Her head turned in the direction it came from and she saw Kenshin in the corner of the tent leaning against the mound of cushions his sword clasped tightly in his hand.  
  
In sleep his face should have looked softer, gentler, more relaxed but it appeared his dreams would not allow him to relax. As she watched an emotion flickered across his face. What it was exactly she could not identify but it was full of pain.  
  
Cautiously Kaoru got to her feet and padded over to him. Her muscles protested her moving and she winced at the ache. She stopped a few feet away indecision gripping her. He had told her not to wake him up, no matter what and she knew she didn't want a repeat of his sword against her throat. But it seemed whatever he was dreaming was not something that could be considered good. She couldn't just let him continue when it was obviously causing so much pain.  
  
Kaoru chewed her lip, contemplating her options. Wake him and get beheaded or continue letting him sleep pain-filled dreams? Or. her eyes alighted on a nearby cushion and an idea formed. She bent down and picked it up and let it fly.  
  
It hit dead center right smack dab in the center of his forehead. He was awake at once, hand whipping toward his sword and body tensing in anticipation of an attack. His golden eyes lighted on her, cold and sharp and decidedly not pleased.  
  
Kaoru carefully backed up a good distance, "um. you were having bad dreams." Her voice came out as a squeak and she winced internally at the sound.  
  
"I told you not to wake me." He said, his voice she noted though not exactly happy was not downright menacing either. It reminded her of the way one would talk to a rather dim child and she bristled at the comparison she drew.  
  
"I didn't wake you - I just through the cushion that woke you up." Kaoru answered a bit shortly. Well, he hadn't attempted to behead her yet she noted (which was a relief). It was a definitely good thing in her mind. She balled her hands into tight fists at her sides and glared at him, she didn't regret what she had did at all.  
  
He snorted softly and Kaoru could have sworn she caught a flash of humor in his golden eyes. Good, she thought in satisfaction you don't have to be so grim and distant all the time and you actually might just have a sense of humor in there underneath all that ice.  
  
She grinned wryly at him, the glare fading from her face. "It's probably not the most pleasant way to wake up but it's effective. Whatever you were dreaming about didn't seem to very comfortable."  
  
"No," he agreed. She felt a spurt of relief as she saw his hand lift from his sword. Who still wore a sword when they were going to sleep anyway? She wondered. No one she knew except Kenshin that was for sure.  
  
"You want to talk about it?" She asked gently - it was the best and perhaps only thing she could offer him.  
  
"No." And then almost as an after thought, "thank you."  
  
"You're welcome." She replied. "Now," she said in a matter of fact tone of voice. "Its still late - early, whatever, so I'll be going to go back to sleep."  
  
She gave him a nod and turned back to her little pallet and lay down. As tired as she was sleep didn't immediately reclaim her, she stayed awake for several more minutes, there was the sound of Kenshin settling down at the other end of the tent and few moments later relaxed even breathing. He had fallen back to sleep as well.  
  
Raising her head she peeked at him quickly. The dreams that had plagued him before seemed to have vanished. He slept peacefully though his hand was still curled around the sheath of his sword - she supposed it was more of a comfort thing than really a weapon when he was asleep. Like a young child would clutch a much loved stuffed animal when going to bed.  
  
The analogy brought a smile to Kaoru's face and for a moment she tried to picture what Kenshin would have looked like as a child - before his killing of his brothers had broken him. He must have been adorable, she thought wistfully, adorable and innocent, not pain-filled and cold.  
  
Smothering a yawn Kaoru closed her eyes and snuggled under the covers. Sleep claimed her instantly and for once her dreams were not filled of the shadow-woman.  
  
~*~  
  
It was several hours later when Kaoru woke once more. Her eyes strayed to the corner where Kenshin had slept and she found it empty. A few displaced cushions the only indication someone had been there at all previously.  
  
Kaoru got to her feet stiffly, her riding-sore muscles rebelling against her actions. Walking across the tent she ducked under the lantern that hung from the ceiling, pushed back the flap that covered the door and went outside.  
  
The morning was cool but held the promise of getting hotter. Fog hovered above the ground blurring the shapes of tents and people and giving everything around her a rather surrealistic feel.  
  
Kenshin was nowhere to be seen. Kaoru put him out of her mind and started getting ready to leave. Early as it was - the sun had yet to begin to rise - things were bustling around her. Tents were being dismantled and folded away, horses caught and saddled and a quick breakfast cooked.  
  
Kaoru ducked back inside her tent and put her things together as quickly as she could. Her bags had been put inside the tent and their contents were still neatly stored since she hadn't had a chance to go through them yet. She found a brush nestled at the top of some fresh clothes and combed her hair, securing it with a ribbon. She gazed ponderingly at the clothes contemplating if she should change into one of them but decided against doing so. Who knew how long this journey would last? She wanted to make sure she at least would have some clean clothes at the end of it given the scarcity of water she had seen - small creeks and puddling streams, nothing near big enough to wash or bathe in and given all the trees around their water needs were probably fed by the sky.  
  
She folded the pallet neatly but left it where it was, not quite sure what to do with it. Her bags she took with her. She found a pack horse with room for more bundles and after being shown how to tie the knots by one of the men in the traveling group secured her bags to the harness the animal wore.  
  
Kaoru caught sight of Karuna among the gathering of saddled horses and didn't know whether to feel pleased or not. It was supposed to be her job to take care of her horse and she didn't' like the fact that someone had done it for her. It made her feel useless. Though, she supposed speed was the important thing at the moment and Kaoru wasn't quite adept enough to saddle and groom her mare as fast as the others were. She resolved to get up earlier tomorrow and from then on.  
  
Breakfast was a quick affaire consisting of travel biscuits and a cup of old reheated ahvay. Not the tastiest meal she'd ever had. No sooner than Kaoru had finished chewing her biscuit and gulping down the cup of ahvay than the people began to mount up in preparation to leave. Kaoru scrambled to her feet and handed the plate and mug to one of the servants who had come along with a smile and word of thanks and rushed to mount as well.  
  
~*~  
  
Karuna felt revived and energetic beneath her as Kaoru settled onto her back. The mare tossed her head and sidestepped her head high and neck arched. Once or twice she gave a little buck of playfulness - that Kaoru easily sat through.  
  
At the head of the group Kaoru saw Kenshin on Fiachra. They faced toward the little camp, watching everything that was going on. The stallion was pawing vigorously at the ground and his neck was bowed against the hold Kenshin had on his mouth.  
  
Kaoru nudged Karuna towards them and then turned the mare around so they stood beside one another.  
  
"Good morning," she said cheerfully.  
  
Kenshin nodded to her, his eyes on the quickly assembling group before them. Obviously satisfied they were ready he raised his arm, the signal to move out. He swung Fiachra around and Kaoru followed suit. The horses broke into a trot away from last night's camp.  
  
~*~  
  
As the day progressed it grew hot. Breaking for the midday meal was brief - more traveling biscuits (which tasted like dust in Kaoru's opinion) and cold ahvay (which didn't taste near as good when hot or even when reheated - also in Kaoru's opinion).  
  
The scenery that they traveled through began to change as they continued to ride. The wide open flatness began to slope upward gently into softly rolling hills. The sightings of trees and grass became more numerous and while Kaoru would not exactly call it a forest the trees provided ample shade and took the edge of the heat off.  
  
Even as she began to grow accustomed to the shifting land around her Kaoru felt a start the first sight of the mountains. They rose up sudden and stark as if from the very ground itself without warning, glinting silver in the bright sunlight. Small gatherings of trees dotted their sides and it seemed void of snow - a sheer impossibility in Kaoru's mind - mountains always had snow, it was the way it should be. How it was supposed to be.  
  
It was also in the direction of the mountains in which they traveled.  
  
And as they drew nearer to the mountains the mode in the group altered -before it had been light hearted and cheerful. Jokes flew between everyone and laughter was almost always ringing in the air. Kaoru had even managed to understand most of them a proof of how quick she was learning the language. Silence was unknown.  
  
As she reflected on it, the mood had seemed forced - having the feeling that it was a making the best of it while we can attitude instead of real and genuine cheer.  
  
The silence seemed heavy now. The laughter and talking had disappeared. Now the mod was apprehensive - tense like the last few moments of calm before a storm broke from the skies and destroyed everything.  
  
The thought brought an uneasy feeling to the pit of her stomach.  
  
Beside her Kenshin was silent. H is face was set in grim lines, back ramrod straight. Before while he had not taken part in the jokes nor laughed and had spoken little she had gotten the feeling that was at ease and maybe even enjoying himself. That feeling had vanished along with everything else.  
  
The feeling of uneasiness in her stomach intensified.  
  
The ground rose sharply upward and the mountain loomed overhead, foreboding and stern. Despite the heat Kaoru shivered.  
  
"Where are we going?" She asked Kenshin.  
  
"To visit the breve-saol," He replied shortly.  
  
Kaoru's brow furrowed in confusion at the unfamiliar word, she had fallen into picking up of the language spoken around her with relative ease. When she thought about it, it wasn't so different from the Kasshin tongue. Her collection of words and phrases that she knew had grown but breve-saol - this was as term she did not know.  
  
"They're half-souls." Kenshin said. The words till did not make sense. "Zombies. I guess you would say."  
  
The folklore mythical image of a half-alive half-dead reincarnated flesh eating corpse sprang into Kaoru's head and she shuddered it away.  
  
"Why are we visiting the. them?" She could not quite bring herself to say the word "zombie."  
  
"Because we need to," Kenshin answered cryptically and Kaoru sighed. S he had to be content with that answer - she had a feeling she wouldn't get a better one.  
  
Kaoru lapsed into silence and asked no more questions. Everyone else was quiet as well; the only sounds to be heard were the footsteps of the horses, the scrape of hoof against stone, the creak of saddles and the airy whisper of the wind.  
  
Kaoru played with the strands of Karuna's mane that had spilled over her knees. The silvery hairs were damp with sweat, curling slightly but still felt like silk to her fingers. She twisted them around her fingers and then let them go to fall back into place with the rest of the palomino's mane.  
  
Karuna had lowered her head as the climb upward grew steeper and Kaoru let the reins slip through her fingers giving the mare her head and trusting her judgment and surefootedness.  
  
Instead of getting cooler as she would have expected it would as they started to climb up the mountain, it only grew hotter. The reason for it Kaoru guessed was the trees were now almost completely gone and they were riding upward - getting closer to the sun. Her thoughts felt sluggish and incoherent, she could just imagine the heart cooking her brain inside her head and turning it to mush - a very unpleasant image to be thinking of.  
  
The scream of a falcon overhead brought Kaoru out of her semi-alert state and reflexively she looked skyward. The falcon was unlike any bird she had ever seen before.  
  
Though it was a good distance above them in the sky Kaoru could see it clearly. It was a medium sized bird with long narrow white wings that were tipped with silver. Its cream colored breast was speckled in black and its hooked beak opened as it gave another haunting cry. Its golden black-rimmed eyes glared at them in an almost baleful manner and Kaoru mentally laughed t herself for giving it an angry intent towards them. A bird was a bird. It did not bear grudges.  
  
Kenshin she saw was watching the bird as well. His golden eyes were opaque and shuttered any trace of thought or emotion locked away securely. He looked unruffled but his hands gave him away - they held the reins in a tight white-knuckled grip and Kaoru wondered at why the sight of a bird could provoke such a reaction from him.  
  
Tentatively she reached across the few feet separating them to touch his arm gently.  
  
His eyes jerked from the sky and toward her face. They were blazing gold as feral and wild and eerily inhuman as she had ever seen them.  
  
"Kenshin," Kaoru's voice came out sounding muted. "Are you all right?"  
  
Something flickered in his eyes and Kaoru couldn't identify what it was, "I'm fine."  
  
"If you're sure," Kaoru murmured not quite convinced but unwilling to push the matter. She removed her hand from his arm. For some reason she felt slightly shaken.  
  
Kenshin didn't answer; he was no longer looking at her but at something else. Kaoru followed the direction of his gaze and blinked suddenly not quite sue of what she had just seen.  
  
Just ahead of them the ground leveled out and there was a thick grove of trees as near to an actual forest as Kaoru had ever seen here. It seemed strange to see a literal forest growing right out of the side of a mountain - but this was a strange land she had come to understand and some things no longer shocked her.  
  
Emerging from the trees ahead was a figure. It looked blurred and Kaoru raised a hand to rub at her eyes to make sure wasn't just seeing things because of the brightness of the sun.  
  
As the figure grew closer the edges solidified and the figure became more distinct and substantial, losing its blurred hazy quality.  
  
It was a man, Kaoru saw now.  
  
His hair glinted frost-white in the brightness of the sun and turquoise blue eyes glared over the rims of small glasses perched on his nose.  
  
"Battousai," his words were directed toward Kenshin, his voice like ice.  
  
"Enishi," Kenshin replied in kind. 


	9. Chapter 9

Kaoru glanced between them concern and worry furrowing her brow. Who was this Enishi? Was he one of the breve-saol Kenshin had spoken of?  
  
The tension was almost tangible, Kaoru was surprised to the others hadn't drawn their swords. Aoshi's face was tight, next to him Misao's face was white her eyes huge in her face. Having picked up on the tenseness of the situation, Yahiko was scowling.  
  
If looks could kill, Enishi would have died, been buried and six feet under by now.  
  
He seemed oblivious to it all or perhaps he just didn't' care. His turquoise gaze swept over them contemptuously. Something flickered in his eyes as they landed on her, Kaoru wasn't sure what it was and she didn't think she wanted to know.  
  
"So you brought her."  
  
It took a moment for Kaoru to understand who he was talking about. Her.  
  
He was talking about her.  
  
Her first thought was why? Why was he talking about her? Why should he care that she had come with Kenshin? Why should it matter at all? His voice sounded expectant- knowing. She should have come- she was supposed to come.  
  
Her confusion growing within her Kaoru glared at him. "Who are you?" She snapped.  
  
He smirked slightly (an aggravating smirk at that Kaoru noted in annoyance) in response to her question. "There is no need for you to know at the present moment. You will learn in time."  
  
With that said he turned on his heel walking away.  
  
"We follow him," Kenshin said squeezing Fiachra forward. His voice was tight with displeasure. It was clear to anyone with working eyeballs that the two did not like each other.  
  
Exactly why, Kaoru made a note to ask about later.  
  
~*~  
  
The trees swallowed up the group as they entered, pressing tightly around them so that they could only ride in single file. The horses were kept to a slow walk and here and there Kaoru caught sight o f the man - Enishi darting ahead of them.  
  
He was like nothing or anyone Kaoru had ever seen before. He seemed to prowl above the ground with a smooth airy grace that reminded Kaoru of one of those famed wild large cats.  
  
He was silent as he went melting into the shadows the trees cast despite the brightness of his hair. He had the ease of one who knew this forest and was master of it all. He was the lord of this place.  
  
With ever foot that they ventured farther Kaoru could see as well as sense Kenshin tensing. His body was held stiffly straight and Kaoru got the impression that if she touched him he would shatter, so tightly drawn was he.  
  
Kaoru's gaze returned back to the flickering figure of Enishi, taking her thoughts away from Kenshin and back to the stranger. Where was he leading them to? If the reaction of everyone around her was any indication it was nowhere good.  
  
She ducked a low hanging branch pulling herself out of her thoughts with the action. The tree branches dropped lower until Kaoru had no choice but to press herself against Karuna's neck lest she hit her head or get knocked off by them.  
  
Silence hung heavy in the air. There was no sound it was as if the very trees and air had swallowed up any noise that they could make. It was definitely creepy. There was no birdsong, no whisper of the wind, no crunch of hoof against twig.  
  
Kaoru felt like they were trapped inside their own little world one without sound and filled with only a bleak hushed deadness. Kaoru fought the urge to utter a word, make a noise, and evoke sound. anything.  
  
The ground was flat or maybe it wasn't. Kaoru wasn't sure. They traveled suspended. There was no way of knowing.  
  
Then suddenly Kenshin reined Fiachra in for a stop. Karuna stopped instantly as well, lifting her head and pricking her ears in interest. Kaoru raised her head from where it had rested against Karuna's neck to peer between the mare's ears. Light streaked between the trees ahead of them, cutting through the dimness and gloom that had fallen over them as they had entered the forest.  
  
Signaled by Kenshin Fiachra walked forward once more and the rest of the horses followed. As the horses passed under the final arch of tree branches, out of the forest and into what lay beyond Kaoru felt her eyes go wide.  
  
Whatever she had expected it certainly wasn't this. A large meadow a good several acres by her estimation spread out before them, semi-circled by towering snow dusted mountains. The grass was thick and lush and dotted with flowers of brilliant color. A sparkling brook zigzagged crookedly through the middle of the meadow. It was clear and bright and Kaoru saw the flashing shadow of a fish inside of it. It gurgled cheerfully the sound the first Kaoru had heard since following Enishi into the forest.  
  
A corral that looked seldom used but still safe and sturdy was off the side near one of the mountain walls that ringed the meadow. It was big enough to contain all the horses they rode with ease but Kaoru doubted they would have to use it. The horses were well trained and knew not to wander away from the herd.  
  
As her gaze passed over the meadow taking everything in Kaoru was once more in for a shock.  
  
A hut - small cottage really was tucked against the far end of the meadow, pressed against another one of the encircling mountain walls. Its roof was thatch; a subtle golden color that glittered in the light and thick strands of vegetation climbed and draped them over its face. Flowers covered the vines, the smell Kaoru recognized instantly as white plum.  
  
As they trickled into the meadow and began to spread apart Kaoru could see Enishi standing off the side watching them with unfriendly eyes.  
  
Why had the come here to a place where they were so unwelcome? She wondered.  
  
Kaoru brought Karuna to a stop and dismounted. Bringing her reins over the mare's head she led her to the corral. The gate of the corral had been opened and Kaoru brought Karuna into it, untacked her and turned the mare loose with rest of the horses.  
  
The saddles were propped up against the fence posts of the corral with the bridles tossed over them. Kaoru placed her tack like the rest and after one last look to make sure Karuna was content (she was grazing seemingly without a care in the world). Satisfied, Kaoru turned away.  
  
Tents were being put up - much larger and grander than the ones from the nights before. Kaoru supposed it was because this would be more a stationary base than the ones before where they were only staying the night. Here it wasn't the same case as before - it looked more permanent. Therefore the tents could be more complex and elaborate and comfort could be taken into consideration.  
  
Would she and Kenshin still be sharing a tent? Yes, they probably would Kaoru was neither pleased nor displeased by the prospect.  
  
She found her eyes roving back to the small cottage. Did Enishi live there? Was he alone or with company? From the way Kenshin had spoken Kaoru had pictured more than one breve-saol.  
  
Kaoru felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and turned around to see Misao standing behind her.  
  
"I don't like his place." Misao said softly her eyes solemn. "It has a. odd feel to it."  
  
"What kind of feel?" Kaoru inquired feeling concern and worry flood through her. Misao was never this quiet or as serious as she was now. Something had to be wrong in order for her to be acting this way.  
  
"A bad feel. Something happened here long ago. something bad. Something that causes sorrow to linger her long after it should have disappeared." Misao's eyes were wide and unfocused. Blank.  
  
"Misao?" Kaoru asked tentatively.  
  
She blinked and shook her head dazedly. "I'm sorry. What were you just saying?" She grinned brightly at Kaoru back to acting like her old chipper self.  
  
".Nothing." Kaoru murmured.  
  
"Oh yeah!" Misao started as if just remembering something. "Megumi says we have to help prepare dinner!"  
  
Kaoru felt herself pale, "you know I can't cook!"  
  
~*~  
  
They had come to a compromise on regards to Kaoru's cooking ability (or lack there of) after Misao had informed everyone of Kaoru's dismal (and that was putting it lightly) cooking skills. Kaoru had been shooed away from the cooking food incase she accidentally do something to ruin it.  
  
The job she had been given: chopping and washing vegetables.  
  
That she took to with gusto hacking away with a knife with disturbing glee, carrot and other vegetable pieces zooming off into the air.  
  
"Those poor, poor vegetables." Misao sighed ducking a wayward turnip slice as she watched over the boiling rice.  
  
Kaoru's only reply was to laugh maniacally and continue slaughtering - er chopping up another pile of awaiting vegetables.  
  
"Kaoru!" Megumi called from over where she was stirring a thick stew. "Will you go collect some more water?"  
  
That was probably said to get a slightly crazed Kaoru away from the defenseless vegetables. The women working near her had been pelted with vegetable fragments ever since Kaoru had picked up the knife and attacked the vegetables.  
  
"Sure," Kaoru set the knife down (much to everyone's relief), grabbed the water bucket and darted off to the creek.  
  
~*~  
  
The water rushed by at a spirited pace. Kaoru set the bucket down and bent over to gather some of the water in her cupped hands and raising them to her mouth she drank. It was cool and sweet. Kaoru wiped the remaining droplets off her face and dunked the bucket in the water to fill it.  
  
There was a soft whisper of foot against grass and Kaoru turned around.  
  
Behind her stood a woman Kaoru had never seen before. She wore a white kimono with purple obi and shawl. Her thick black hair was tied into a looped ponytail and bangs fell over her brown haunted looking eyes.  
  
Her eyes were vacant as if something in her head been ripped away. Some essential part. They regarded Kaoru calmly if a bit distantly seeing her, yet not exactly registering it.  
  
Her eyes took Kaoru in from head to toe and Kaoru felt like she was being swallowed up in that cool empty gaze.  
  
"You are Kaoru," her voice soft, whispery and insubstantial.  
  
"Yes," Kaoru whispered her mouth felt dry, her ears were ringing. "Who are you?"  
  
"I," the woman stepped with every word she uttered. "Am Tomoe." they were nearly nose to nose now; Kaoru could see her bewildered reflection in those serene empty brown eyes.  
  
Tomoe raised a hand as if to brush the bangs out of Kaoru's eyes. As her fingers stroked across her forehead a cold numbness seemed to fill her.  
  
Kaoru's vision turned black.  
  
~*~  
  
Snow was falling in thick obscuring sheets. Distantly Kaoru could feel the flakes landing on her, a brief bite of cold that dwindled and became numb. They fell onto her shoulders, into her hair and coating her lashes and turning them white. Her breath puffed out in cloudy silver.  
  
For a moment she was disorientated. Snow? Her mind though sluggishly. It had not been snowing before. Where had the snow come from?  
  
The sky was cloudy, the sun a dim silvery metallic disc in the center. It seemed darker than it should have been. The shadows crawled out from below the trees across the ground leaving blackness in their wake like waves.  
  
Her gaze swiveled back and forth taking everything in around her and noting the stillness of the air - the ever present silence. It seemed a tense kind of silent, expectant. wary.  
  
As her gaze roamed through the meadow it came to a stop abruptly.  
  
Kenshin stood in the center of the meadow his sword in hand and his eyes molten gold. A slight distance away from him was something. Kaoru felt her eyesight blur as she attempted to focus on whatever it was.  
  
It was the remnants of a man. He stood with his back straight seemingly comprised of rotting flesh and shadows. The sword in his hand was rusted and dirt caked. The smell of death and decay was overpowering and Kaoru could feel her stomach twisting in nausea.  
  
His face was gaunt and skeletal. Silvers of flesh hung from deep cuts across his face. His eyes were sightless and black that swirled and twisted - shadows. From where his mouth would be there was only a gaping hole that exposed rotting and yellowed teeth. His hair was black and gave the impression of it once being thick and long and most of it had fallen away to a remaining few wisps and strands barely held back by a moth eaten old strip of leather. His clothes minus a few cuts were for the most part intact. There was one large slash across his stomach and as Kaoru's eyes were laid on it she saw strands of shadows writhe and twist from somewhere deep inside the wound.  
  
"I will not die!" The man's voice was an inhuman snarl.  
  
"You are already dead," came Kenshin's reply.  
  
"No!" The man howled. He lunged at Kenshin sword upraised. Kenshin dodged easily and another shadow-filled wound was made across his back.  
  
"No. I will not die." He whirled around to face Kenshin and for a brief moment their swords met in a resounding clang of metal that seemed to echo forebodingly through the meadow.  
  
"I will not die." It was a mantra he chanted each time he and Kenshin clashed.  
  
Kenshin was wearing at him, hacking him to bits literally. Whenever a wound was made shadows would close over it and seal it up, healing it. The snow fell thicker around them until it became almost impossible to see. They were ghosts darting through the whiteness in flashes of crimson and black.  
  
"Give up already. You were dead a long time ago there is no reason for you to remain here." Kenshin's eyes were glowing in the dimness.  
  
"No," the man moaned. "I will not die. I cannot die."  
  
"And so you sold your soul to the demons to continue living in a half- state. You are soulless. You are nothing more than a monster, one who haunts from beyond the grave and will not leave."  
  
"I cannot die! You cannot make me die!" He screamed. With quickness Kaoru would not have expected he attacked Kenshin once more.  
  
But then she was there.  
  
Tomoe threw herself between them whether to halt the battle or protect the demon-man Kaoru did not know.  
  
Time seemed to have stilled.  
  
Kenshin's sword cut through Tomoe's body and into the demon-man's back.  
  
The demon-man screamed and shattered - there was no other word for it. The shadows that made him up vanished and his rotted body hit the ground in pieces.  
  
Tomoe fell to the ground crimson soaking her clothes and the snow around her. Her hair had somehow come loose and fanned about her face the blood soaking it as well. Her eyes began to dim as the life started to leave her body.  
  
Enishi raced from the trees where he had been watching the battle and with a wordless cry fell to Tomoe's side. His hair was black Kaoru noted distantly. As she watched he placed his hands over Tomoe's wound and a bright colorless glow surrounded them.  
  
From where he stood Kenshin watched them with blank eyes that looked dazed and unfocused; Tomoe's blood was dripping from his sword and falling onto the once pristine white snow.  
  
The glow around Enishi and Tomoe faded gradually at first, dissipating a bit by bit. As the last wisps of it disappeared Enishi rose from Tomoe's side. His hair was shock-white, face pale and slightly gaunt. He reached out a hand toward Tomoe and Kaoru felt a thread of surprise run through her as Tomoe reached up her hand toward him weakly.  
  
Enishi pulled her to her feet and wrapped his arm around her holding her against him. The wound from Kenshin's sword was gone - it had vanished though her kimono was still crimson stained. Tomoe's face was almost translucently pale, her brown eyes huge in her face and filmed over slightly.  
  
Kenshin took a step toward them his golden eyes unreadable, his face composed. His lips moved forming words that Kaoru could not hear. Tomoe smiled slightly in response to whatever he had just said and shook her head slightly. Enishi was glaring at Kenshin she noted and his arm tightened around Tomoe's waist momentarily. Slowly he began to lead her away leaving Kenshin to stand by himself in the snow.  
  
~*~  
  
Moon Baby: Thank you!!  
  
Merlock12: ::hug:: Thank for your comments ^.^ !! Enishi does have some magic-ability but he's not quite what I would call a wizard but you shall see as I define his powers a bit more in the chapters to come.  
  
Pia Bartolini: ::eyes sparkle:: All I can say is thanks! ::huggles::  
  
I won't Tell: LOL I agree!  
  
Koniko-chan: You're welcome. ::gives s'mores::  
  
Aniall4: I'm glad you enjoyed it ^.^  
  
Dove-chan: I know I didn't wake him up like you told me to but there's only so many times Kaoru can be threatened with death in the space of a story (unfortunately for her she's going to get more death threats u.u; as you will see)  
  
Hitokiri-miao miao: I updated as quickly as I could ::offers a hog-tied and gagged Cross-Country Coach for torture).  
  
Punky1: It's one of my favorites too ^.^ It's just so much fun to write. Don't worry I'll be keeping this one up!  
  
Kiya Star: Untitled has been taken down for the time being for some rewriting and revising as I attempt to overcome a massive writer's block sorry.  
  
Ymir-chan: Hai!  
  
Crystal Renee: I'm glad you're happy ^.^ I love happy reviewers!  
  
Hikari no Kodomo: Yep! I was flipping though a book-buying catalog that the school sends out sometimes and the title Memory, Sorrow and Thorn popped out at me. The title fit for this fic though I changed Thorn to Sword (for reasons that you will see) I'm currently trying to get a hold of the books at my local library (trying being the main word there).  
  
Tanuki-dono: ^.^ You always leave great reviews that make me smile ::huggles::  
  
Rekka's Angel: I liked the tent scene too it was fun to write hehe. Ferai: ^.^ At least I haven't made her run 7 miles and then ride for 3 hours without a break in between ::wince:: Today I had to do exactly that and let's just say I'm so sore I can barely type and leave it at that ::cuddles her heating pad::  
  
Jaganshi-Summoner: I'm Tomoe-neutral. I don't dislike her but she's not my favorite character either. At least you won't have me going around waving 'Tomoe Sucks!' banners ::rolls eyes::  
  
Kat-gurl1: I'm glad you like it ^.~  
  
EnjeruJoshin: Sorry about leaving you hanging! I wrote more!  
  
Poppy2: ::pats her back:: All will be revealed in time and don't worry there will be romance between Kaoru and Kenshin (eventually. ::scowls at muses).  
  
AnimeLuver: ^.^ Am continuing and will keep continuing!  
  
Irksome One: ::grin:: Enishi won't be (too) bad in this fic.  
  
Ixchen: ::smiles back:: you're welcome!  
  
JML: Yep ^.~  
  
Keirran: ::hands her a bucket:: You keep drooling like that and you'll flood something ^.^ 


	10. Chapter 10

::grin:: Don't you just love plot bunny visits? Only I wish mine had not come when it had. At my meet this Saturday when it was raining and I was being turned into a human icicle ::makes mental note to ALWAYS bring a blanket to her meets:: and I could only scribble my idea on my notebook super quickly because I had to race in twenty minutes and had only a second to spare before starting my warm-up.  
  
Race turned out fabulously though - EVERY ONE of my teammates finished in the Top Twenty Five in ALL of our races!! I got 17th in my race and had a PR (Personal Record) ::is still quite happy:: Fresh-Soph ended up 4th and Varsity ended up 5th. So we were all psyched when it ended and more than happy with ourselves. Our coaches were glowing I think about half of us had PR's which made it extra sweet ^.^ ::waves her ribbon around proudly::  
  
~LadyShiin  
  
~*~  
  
The shadows reached out with cool fingers to touch her cheek. They slide gently through her unbound hair and trailed across her close eyes.  
  
Kaoru floated knowing only pain and darkness, behind her closed lids was darkness and if she had opened her eyes there would only be even more darkness.  
  
A tight headachy feeling had settled around her temples. One that was not unlike the feeling of suppressed tears.  
  
Leave me alone, she wanted to say to the persistent shadow-hands and dark- fingers. Maybe she did say it, maybe she did not, and there was no way of knowing exactly.  
  
The fingers tapped hard across her cheek and it strung like she had just been slapped forcefully. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes and trickled down her cheeks and face.  
  
Another painful tap. More tears.  
  
"Open your eyes little one." It was the shadow-woman.  
  
"No," Kaoru replied. "I don't want to see anymore."  
  
The shadow-woman gave a sigh. "Foolish child that one is. Showing you things that were better left unseen. Distort, she will. Change fate she tries to. For good or ill I do not know."  
  
"What kind of place have I been brought to?" Kaoru wondered aloud eyes still tightly shut. "The dead and half-alive roam about as though they are the living themselves, I'm surrounded in mystery upon mystery."  
  
"That you are." The shadow-woman agreed. "Mystery upon mystery, secrets and secrets, much is hidden; slowly it all shall be revealed."  
  
"I never asked for this."  
  
"Do not sulk! Child you may be, do not give action to your age!" The shadow- woman's voice was sharp. "Open your eyes and confront what you wish to avoid!" it was a command, one to be obeyed.  
  
Tentatively Kaoru opened her eyes. The darkness had disappeared to be replaced by a bright colorless light one not unlike the glow of magic Enishi had produced. No, colorless was not the word to use for it was anything but colorless. Rather it seemed to be made up of every color all melded into one."  
  
Silhouetted by the light was a woman, the shadow-woman, Kaoru realized. She seemed to be a part of the colorless light. A physical embodiment of it.  
  
She was tall, taller than Kaoru by a good few inches and willowy slender. Her eyes were colorless like the light and yet full of color at the same time. They reflected eth colors back like prisms and as she watched Kaoru caught flickers of sage and purple and silver and blue in her eyes.  
  
She had an elegant face, a strong face with high cheekbones and a facial structure that could not quite be called delicate. Her hair hung loose about her shoulders the same color of her eyes and rainbows flickered and flashed in the strands. Her hair was longer than Kaoru's falling well past her hips in gentle waves.  
  
A kimono of a color Kaoru had never seen before adorned her body. It was almost silver, yet too pale to accurately called silver. Her bare feet peaked out from under the hem as pale as the rest of her. Around her hands were many threads in a rainbow of colors, wrapped akin to bandages. Kaoru could see her blue thread and the gold and silver and plum one entangled among the ones she held. They trailed several feet back to the loom that stood behind them like a sentinel and became a part of the tapestry that was being woven.  
  
"Who are you?" Kaoru asked.  
  
The woman smiled gently. "I have many names in many tongues. You may call be whatever you wish."  
  
"Shulya," Kaoru murmured. In her own tongue it could be translated as 'prism' or 'crystal' - it was the first thing that sprang to mind and described her perfectly.  
  
Shulya inclined her head slightly, her hair failing forward with the movement to veil her face.  
  
Kaoru smiled in turn.  
  
"No more hiding little one." Shulya said reprovingly. "You have only gotten a glimpse and more is to come. If you are so overwhelmed so easily then I fear for you in the time that is to come."  
  
"I'm not hiding nor running away!" Kaoru's temper sparked. "I'm not a coward!"  
  
"Coward si not what you are. You are just naïve and unsure. Braver than most are you," Shulya soothed.  
  
"I just wish I knew what was going on." Kaoru muttered.  
  
"In time little one. Everything, good and bad shall come in time."  
  
"Time, time, always time." Kaoru sighed. "But when will it _be_ time?"  
  
"That I cannot say and you must not know. "Shulya said gently. She suddenly cocked her head in a curiously birdlike movement. "Time for you to go it is. We shall be meeting again soon."  
  
The colorless light dimmed and faded to darkness and the dream ended.  
  
~*~  
  
A low flickering lamp burned near her, throwing shadows and muted light onto the wall. She was in a tent Kaoru realized after a moment of disorientation. ]  
  
It was probably Kenshin's.  
  
Theirs.  
  
But how had she gotten here? She wondered. The last thing she remembered was being sent to fetch some water. and Tomoe. and then the dream of Tomoe's death by Kenshin's hand.  
  
No it was not a dream, Kaoru amended. It was a memory. Something that had once occurred. Something that had really happened.  
  
Slowly she became conscious of people speaking outside the tent. They had spoke too fast for Kaoru - with her limited grasp and understanding of the language - to correctly make out the words but she knew who was speaking: Kenshin, Enishi and Tomoe.  
  
Not so much Tomoe but mostly Enishi and Kenshin. Every so often she would inject a word or two here and there in a low voice. From the sound of the way Enishi and Kenshin were speaking it seemed they were having an argument.  
  
Suddenly their voices halted and all Kaoru could hear was silence. They had not moved away from the tent for she had heard no sound of them leaving where stood. They had just stopped speaking for a moment.  
  
Then Enishi spoke once more, slow enough for Kaoru to understand though his words made her confusion only grow and not lessen.  
  
"You know this had to be done Battousai."  
  
Kenshin said a word in reply that Kaoru did not recognize, it sounded like a curse.  
  
Enishi laughed in reply.  
  
"Time is growing short." Tomoe murmured in her soft silvery voice.  
  
"I know that," Kenshin snapped.  
  
Perhaps it was Kenshin's annoyance that made Kaoru's heart tighten in fear. He was always so in control of his emotions, the fact that his control was slipping meant that something had to be wrong. What could be the cause of all of this?  
  
Another thing tickled at the back of her mind. The mention of time.. Time is growing short Tomoe had said. someone else had spoken of time.. Time is growing short. Things shall come in time. Good things or bad things?  
  
Slowly she got to her feet and padded over to the door. Peering between the flap of cloth that covered it Kaoru could make out the shadowed forms of Kenshin, Tomoe and Enishi standing together.  
  
Kenshin's head whipped toward her, his eyes glowing eerily in the semi- darkness that surrounded the trio. A not quite unfamiliar feeling formed in Kaoru's stomach. Distance. But this feeling of distance was slightly different than the homesick distance she had been suffering from - a feeling of not quite belonging that was reasonable given the current circumstances.  
  
That distance had stemmed from being thrust into an unfamiliar place with no idea of what to expect. This sort of distance was different. It was the feeling of being left out on a great secret. One that everyone else knew the answer to but her.  
  
Kaoru found that she hated it.  
  
She pushed the flap of back and walked out from the tent towards them. Enishi and Tomoe had followed Kenshin's gaze and were watching her come. Cool indifference in turquoise eyes and vacant emptiness in brown.  
  
"Kaoru," Tomoe murmured lowly as she approached them. It was more of an acknowledgement than a true hello or greeting.  
  
"Tomoe, Enishi. Kenshin," Kaoru greeted each one in turn suddenly feeling she had stepped into a puddle only to find it was a lake and she had begun to be sucked into its hidden depths and drowned slowly. She shook it off and forced a strained smile.  
  
"We did not mean to wake you," Tomoe's eyes did not quite seem to see her. "I apologize for it."  
  
Kaoru ducked her head unsure of how to respond.  
  
"I imagine you became curious as to what we are discussing." Enishi's expression was almost bitter.  
  
"I admit that I am," Kaoru said honestly. Talking with him was like stepping on eggshells and trying to not make them crack beneath one's feet. Somewhat unnerving and making her feel disturbingly off center. She wasn't sure exactly how to speak to him.  
  
"It's to be expected," Tomoe murmured. "For the part only you are able to play is drawing close.  
  
"Only me?"  
  
"Only you," Tomoe confirmed. A ghost of a smile flitted across her face. "But first you must learn and understand." She paused for a moment. "Walk with me if you would."  
  
Hesitantly Kaoru nodded.  
  
~*~  
  
Tomoe moved lightly beside her, seeming more to float than actually stride above the ground - a manner not unlike Enishi's own way of movement. Kaoru was reminded of deer as she looked at her. Graceful and serene yet with a hidden quickness that could be surprising.  
  
Tomoe had her hands folded together in the long sleeves of her kimono. Head bowed demurely her eyes looking ahead of her. Kaoru felt suddenly self- conscious, bumbling and awkward and clumsy and oh so very confused.  
  
"You must have many questions."  
  
That was an understatement. "Yes, many," Kaoru agreed softly.  
  
"Would you like me to explain what I showed you?" Tomoe offered.  
  
"If you would," Kaoru chewed her lower lip nervously.  
  
"His name was Akira." Tomoe began. "He was the most important person to me other than Enishi that is. Enishi is my brother I've raised him ever since our parents died when he was very young. I loved Akira and he loved me as well. We were to be married. but such things were not to occur." She paused lifting her face skyward her eyes on the cloud dotted sky.  
  
"A village near to the one we lived in was attacked and Akira went with the other men to help defend it against the bandits. He was killed in the fighting." Tomoe's voice took on a trace of sorrow. "He was killed." She murmured once more. "But he would not allow himself to die."  
  
"What do you mean?' Kaoru asked.  
  
"What do I mean by that?' Tomoe asked.  
  
Kaoru nodded.  
  
"In this land. there are many things..things that has fallen into myth and legend, story and song in your own land. Tales to be told around a winter fire I suppose. The usage of magic has waned in your own land, yet it still remains in our own one here. Not as prevalent as it once was I'm afraid but it still exists where it has all but died out in your old home." Tomoe's face was pensive. "That lack of magic will be something that shall hinder us in the time that is to come."  
  
The time that is to come.  
  
The words hung like a banner before Kaoru's eyes and she felt a chill run down her spine as Tomoe uttered those words. She had heard them before. they sounded too familiar for her to not have heard them before.  
  
"What else besides the dwindling of magic?" Kaoru asked sensing Tomoe was not done.  
  
"Creatures exist here that the people in Kasshin have either turned to myth if they even believe they existed at all, demons, the soulless walking dead..The half-souls that live in a shadowed world, breve-saol.Enishi and I." A smile flickered across her features. "Your people would run screaming from the both of us if they ever knew what we are or attempt to kill us once more."  
  
"Kill you once more?" Kaoru questioned.  
  
"I showed you of my death. but I will get to that later." Tomoe said dismissively. "The first and most important above all else for you to know is that Demons do exist." She had stopped walking and Kaoru had unconsciously mimicked her. Brown eyes held a sharpness she had not seen before bored into her own.  
  
Kaoru nodded her mouth suddenly dry.  
  
"They exist. They have always existed since the beginning of time and the dawn of consciousness for man. They will probably exist far longer than man shall." Tomoe shook her head. "That is a possibility, but one I hope to never see being played out." She blinked then as if gathering her thoughts. "Once. a very, very long time ago Demons roamed the world, Hiten.Kasshin. every country they inhabited. They destroyed and killed and set the world to flame. Humans were enslaved the few left alive were resisting futilely. It seemed lost." Her eyes turned vague as recited the story to Kaoru.  
  
"You speak as if you were actually there." Kaoru murmured.  
  
"One does not have to live at a certain time in order to be able to sympathize and understand what was happening to the people at that time." Tomoe said softly.  
  
Kaoru ducked her head suddenly feeling like a reprimanded child.  
  
Tomoe's eyes were understanding and her lips lifted slightly at the ends. Kaoru met her eyes and grinned ruefully.  
  
"How was the world saved?"  
  
"By a man by the name of Seijuurou Hiko.. He led an assault on the Demon's stronghold and managed to defeat the leader, a Demon by the name of Shishio. They dueled for six days and seven nights and on the dawn of the seventh day Hiko finally defeated him by pushing him back into the Demon's Realm and binding him there. He is also the founder of the Royal Line of Hiten." Tomoe murmured as if an after thought.  
  
"Every one of the Kings bearing the name of Seijuurou Hiko - except Kenshin; when he won the Leadership battle he did not change his name to the one that was custom."  
  
"Megumi told me about him." Kaoru murmured.  
  
"I thought she would." Tomoe said musingly. "There is something more you should know. The reason you may say for you're being here. In our land there is a Prophecy. One of the Seers that lived long ago in the aftermath of the Demon's War foretold of it:  
  
The Least shall become Most  
  
Common Pain shall bind their Hearts  
  
Sorrow Will Strengthen  
  
Love Shall Bloom like a Flower in the Midst of Darkness  
  
Gold and Violet Will Merge  
  
As the Demons Rise  
  
They Alone Shall Stand Against Them."  
  
Kaoru felt her throat close up as Tomoe recited the Prophecy. "So this is the reason for my being here? I'm a part of some sort of prophecy?"  
  
"Yes," Tomoe nodded sharply. "Parts of it have already come true even as we speak or are about to. Do you wish to know which parts?"  
  
"I think I already know," Kaoru murmured.  
  
"The Least Shall Become Most." Tomoe's voice took on a singsong quality. "Kenshin and you - both bastard children, both despised. The Least of your Lineage. Kenshin became Most by defeating his brothers in the Leadership Battle. You became Most when you were sent here and married to him."  
  
"Yes." Kaoru could say nothing else.  
  
"Common Pain Shall Bind Their Hearts." Her eyes flickered over Kaoru in an assessing manner. "You I feel are not the innocent you appear to be. There is a darkness to you that is mirrored in Kenshin. A pain, a hurt and a wound that refuses to heal no matter how hard to you try to lock it away and hide it from your very self."  
  
Kaoru had turned pale as Tomoe spoke. "What do you know of me? How do you know of this?"  
  
"How do I know of the past that you deny?" Tomoe questioned. "One does not always see with their eyes Kaoru. I have been observing you even before you stepped into my land. I have seen what you wish to forget and keep away from you. What memories you banished... You and Kenshin are very much alike."  
  
"Was it you then?" Kaoru asked. "Was it you that brought me here?"  
  
"Yes," Tomoe tilted her head to regard her. "I was the one who advised Kenshin to have you brought here. I knew your family would send you and only you."  
  
"Of course they would send only me." Kaoru's tone was bitter. "I'm Tainted."  
  
"Only Tainted in their eyes Kaoru.only in their eyes," Tomoe's voice was soft and consoling.  
  
"Thank you," Kaoru murmured, grasping onto the words and reassurance that Tomoe offered. "Thank you so very much."  
  
"You're welcome," a smile flitted across her face.  
  
Silence stretched between them for several moments, a comforting companionable silence that Kaoru found herself cherishing.  
  
"You never finished your story about Akira." She said breaking the silence reluctantly.  
  
"It is a tale for another day." Tomoe replied. "Besides you already know the most of it and how it turned out."  
  
"I still don't understand though," Kaoru ventured. "I still don't understand exactly how you became breve-saol."  
  
"It is actually quite simple: Enishi gave up half his soul to keep me alive. We are two people but essentially one soul - a half-soul that is not quite complete and while we are living we do not live in the true sense since we are both half alive and half dead."  
  
"Neither one nor the other."  
  
"Precisely."  
  
"And the difference with Akira?"  
  
"He was truly dead. He only gave up his soul and let a demon possess it to keep it animated and in his thoughts 'living'."  
  
"I am sorry, you loved him."  
  
"Yes I did love him," Tomoe replied. "But I also loved him enough to know he had to die - he could not keep existing as he was and he truly would not wish to continue that way. That hardest thing is to love and then let the person you love go because you know it is for their best intentions Kaoru. I hope you never have to do what I did."  
  
"So do I." Kaoru said gravely her blue eyes serious as she pondered the words.  
  
"I also hope that we will be friends." Tomoe ventured.  
  
A smile spread across Kaoru's face as she looked at the other woman. "I hope the same Tomoe."  
  
"Friends we shall be." Tomoe said simply her brown eyes lighter than Kaoru had ever seen them.  
  
"Yes." Kaoru agreed.  
  
~*~  
  
Ryu Sachiko Sama: Couldn't be more in agreement ::waves a Tomoe Neutral flag::  
  
Sessha: ::beams:: I try to be different - being sane and being normal is vastly overrated. Honestly I think I'm neither.  
  
Hikari No Kodomo: You can stop waiting here's more! ^.~  
  
Punky1: This story won't be over for a LONG time ::ticks off stuff to do on fingers:: get romance developing, insert MAJOR plot twists, insert more MAJOR plot, introduce bad guy(s) officially, add some character development. the list goes on and on.  
  
I Won't Tell: Nope ^.^  
  
KawaiiChica: ::hugs:: Glad you enjoy it.  
  
Crystal Renee: My life in a nutshell: school, anime (mostly RK), writing (RK fanfiction), Cross Country, Horses.  
  
Gracianekko: Unfortunately for you this chapter will probably raise even more questions especially concerning Kaoru ::grin::  
  
Poppy2: Correct guesses: 1,2,3 Wrong Guess: 4 - no Romantic Relationship with Kenshin ^.^ Kaoru gets him all to herself (aside from sharing occasionally with drooling fangirls like me LOL)  
  
EnjeruJoshin: Nope no romantic relationship between Tomoe and Kenshin. Yes Enishi did turn Tomoe into a breve-saol while making himself into one as well. I actually got breve from the musical term which is "half."  
  
Jaganshi-Summoner: Updated ::grin::  
  
Sarah: ::is floored:: Lord of the Rings?? O.O ::is honored::  
  
Miya-chan3: Updated ^.~  
  
Ferai: ::wades through plot:: Thick plot! I just made it thicker! Kaoru's attitude will seem more like the one everyone knows and loves - once we get into more of the action scenes currently she's too confused and out of balance to act normally.  
  
HeavensTear: ::waves Kenshin-Kaoru flag::  
  
Pia Bartolini: ::offers new chapter with a side of s'mores and brownies:: ^.^ Arigatou!!  
  
Ixchen: No more waiting! ::grin::  
  
Oyuki: Brand new chapter coming right up! ::shouts like a waitress::  
  
Irksome One: Thanks! ^.^  
  
Aniall4: Tomoe questions have been explained (hopefully) and don't worry Kaoru has no competition for Kenshin's heart here ::tries to look innocent:: Mostly anyway.  
  
Hitokiri-miao miao: Hope your dream questions have been answered ^.^  
  
The Girl Who Cried Oro: ^.^ hopefully you now know the answers to the ones raised in the last chapter - this one has a bunch of new ones ready to confuzzle you.  
  
JML: ^.^  
  
CurlsofSerenity: ^,.^ Love the Gollum impression. I'm a Lord of the Rings Addict hehe ^.^ 


	11. Chapter 11

Kaoru sat on the ground, leaning against a fence post, idly chewing on a blade of grass while she watched the horses enclosed inside the pasture. Karuna was grazing alongside a dapple-gray mare that she recognized as Megumi's own horse. The bright sunlight intensified the golden gloss of Karuna's coat and her white mane fell across her neck like a waterfall of silk.  
  
Karuna raised her head suddenly from the grass, half-eaten strands poking out at the corners of her mouth. Her forelock hung over her eyes and she peered through it, looking at something at the other end of the pasture.  
  
Fiachra.  
  
Kaoru snorted in amusement as the mare nickered at him and trotted over to where the stallion was standing. They touched noses in greeting, nickering softly, and Karuna settled down to graze next to him.  
  
My horse has a better love life than I do, Kaoru mused. I wonder what that says about me?  
  
With a sigh Kaoru got to her feet and pushed herself away from the fence, brushing off the loose pieces of grass that clung to her clothes. Tilting her head back she brushed her bangs out of her eyes, her gaze skyward. The sky was blue without a trace of cloud, clear, empty and endless. Lonely almost, she thought.  
  
A tingle suddenly ran down her spine and she shivered, hands rising to rub away the goosebumps that had suddenly sprung up on her arms. Her stomach twisted and she closed her eyes against the nausea that unexpectedly rose within her. For several moments she stood stiffly, waiting for the nausea to recede in intensity. The sensation was familiar, almost too familiar. Kaoru sternly clamped down on that thought before it could go any further.  
  
Off a bit away she could hear the ring of blades meeting one another and muffled cries of fighting. Someone was sparring. More than a few someones, Kaoru found as she walked toward the place where the sounds were coming from.  
  
A ring had formed around those sparring. Peering over the shoulders of the people in front of her Kaoru could finally see who they were, and the identity of the two surprised her: Enishi and Kenshin.  
  
Both had swords in hand-real ones, not the practice bokkens that were normally used. Kenshin sported a cut above his eye that still trickled blood and was ringed by a quickly darkening bruise. Enishi was favoring his right leg slightly.  
  
Kaoru pushed through the crowd of onlookers to the front for a better view. The two rushed at each other, blades meeting and pushing against one another. Kenshin wrenched free and leapt backward to land a few feet away, a scant foot from the ring of onlookers and just in front of Kaoru. Enishi stepped backwards as well, to give them distance. They circled each other warily in a manner that reminded Kaoru of wild fighting cats: looking for any breaks in defense or weaknesses that could be exploited.  
  
Enishi said something to Kenshin that Kaoru could not catch. Then to her surprise he dropped the sword he held, tossing it so that it landed at Kenshin's feet.  
  
Was he giving up? She wondered. Enishi didn't seem the type to give up easily or willingly.  
  
As she looked on Enishi closed his eyes. The air became tight and expectant- for what she did not know. Minutes passed slowly. The wind began to pick up, starting out gentle and then becoming stronger with each passing moment. It whipped and curled around Enishi and Kenshin, causing Kenshin's hair to lift and dance about his head but barely stirring Enishi's own.  
  
Subtly, barely perceptible at first, a glow began to surround Enishi. It was not the colorless shimmer of before but slightly darker-pure silver. It edged his body and features and pooled in his eyes, turning them from turquoise to silvery-blue and finally just silver. It was a sight that drew murmurs of surprise from those watching. The tingling-nausea returned once more and Kaoru gritted her teeth against it.  
  
The glow around Enishi began to writhe and twist as if alive. It trailed down his arms and began to concentrate and collect itself in his hand, shaping itself into a form that vaguely resembled a sword.  
  
The nausea made Kaoru sway in an effort to keep from falling to the ground. She could taste blood in her mouth and distantly she realized she had been biting her tongue. Memories rose up against her, pounding at the barriers she had built up against them. She could feel them cracking, the memories slipping through like water to engulf her.  
  
~*~  
  
Darkness.  
  
Let me go! I don't want to be here! Leave me alone! Go away!  
  
A low chuckle. Hands reach for her.  
  
Push away. Don't touch me! Don't touch me!  
  
The hands grab her wrists and pin her arms to her sides. She's shoved backward. Something hard presses against her back. A wall?  
  
Don't touch me! Pleading. Crying. Tears run down her face. Push against him. Fight. Let me go! His hands on her. Don't touch me! Don't touch-  
  
His mouth against hers.  
  
She's falling . . .  
  
Fractured images assault her. Memories? Thoughts?  
  
He pulls away screaming as if to wake the dead. She slides bonelessly against the wall to the floor. He lays curled up in a fetal position a few feet away. His eyes are wide and unseeing, looking past her. He continues to scream. She just watches him-there's nothing else she can do.  
  
Someone is pounding at the door. It opens with a violent wrench and light spills into the darkened room.  
  
"What did you do to him?"  
  
"I don't know!"  
  
"What did you do to him?!"  
  
~*~  
  
Kenshin's gaze was torn from Enishi, the hairs prickling on the back of his neck. He turned just in time to see Kaoru sway on her feet and then collapse to the ground. In an instant he was at her side to see what had happened, putting his duel with Enishi out of his mind for the moment.  
  
He knelt down beside her as the crowd parted around them. She was unconscious. Fainted? Kaoru did not seem the type to faint easily if at all. Her skin was paler than normal, her cheekbones standing out in sharp relief. Her breathing was shallow.  
  
Kenshin placed two fingers to the underside of her jaw, feeling for her pulse. A stinging tingle spread across his hand where it touched her skin and he jerked away reflexively.  
  
Magic?  
  
Could Kaoru do magic?  
  
"Get Megumi," he ordered one of the nearest onlookers. The man bobbed his head and dashed away.  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru curled into herself in a manner not unlike His, her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs tightly. Tears flowed from her eyes, leaving trails of wetness down her cheeks with their passing.  
  
"Shh, little one," Shulya said soothingly. "It was just a memory. It cannot harm you anymore."  
  
"I hurt him though. Unintentionally, maybe, but I still hurt him."  
  
"You had no control over it. You still do not."  
  
"I know." Kaoru's voice was low with self-reproach. "And the thought that it could happen again scares me."  
  
"It should. Your feelings and thoughts are correct in this matter."  
  
Kaoru blinked at her. "What do mean?"  
  
"By fearing it you will be cautious and less likely to hurt someone than one who does not fear. Fear is not always a good thing, little one, but in this case it is."  
  
Kaoru nodded, rubbing at her red-rimmed eyes with a closed fist. "I understand."  
  
"Good." Shulya sounded pleased. "Now what will you do about it?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Kaoru echoed her earlier question, confusion clearly visible on her features.  
  
"You have no control over it, little one. Untamed and wild it is."  
  
"I don't know if there is even a way to gain control of it. It's not a wild horse that you can train and domesticate into doing your will."  
  
"That is where you are wrong. You can gain mastery over it-all you need is a teacher."  
  
Kaoru snorted softly. "Where am I supposed to get a teacher? This isn't the same as being taught how to wield a blade."  
  
"Oh I'm sure you'll find a teacher, little one, that you will."  
  
Something in her voice caused Kaoru to narrow her eyes suspiciously at Shulya. "Do you know something that I don't?"  
  
"It is not for me to say, that it is not," Shulya murmured.  
  
"Fate and destiny?" Kaoru questioned.  
  
Shulya's silence was her own response.  
  
Kaoru sighed. "You cannot tell me. I understand."  
  
"To do so would upset everything, little one. Change what is before you, alter, warp . . ."  
  
"I will not ask you anymore," Kaoru said softly.  
  
Shulya smiled at her. "I thank you. Too many questions you ask and the answers you seek must be kept unknown and hidden from you. It is not of my choosing to do this, but it must be done."  
  
"You need not explain any further." Kaoru could see the edges of her vision beginning to blur together and dim. "I must be going now I guess. Until the next time we meet."  
  
"Stay safe little one," Shulya said in parting.  
  
~*~  
  
Kaoru awoke with a raging headache. It clamped itself around her temples in a vice like grip. Gingerly she reached up to touch her forehead, wincing as the inquiring contact made her headache become even more painful.  
  
"You gave us quite a scare."  
  
Kaoru turned her head to see Megumi standing a few feet away, a look of annoyance on her face. The annoyance was directed towards Kaoru.  
  
"What happened?" Kaoru asked. "I don't remember."  
  
"You fainted."  
  
"Fainted?" Kaoru was surprised. "I don't faint."  
  
"Well obviously now you do."  
  
"Obviously," Kaoru agreed. "The last thing I remember is Kenshin and Enishi sparring, and Enishi . . . he was doing something."  
  
"Enishi was showing off." Megumi rolled her eyes. "And that's probably why you fainted. Some people have adverse reactions to magic."  
  
"No," Kaoru shook her head. "It wasn't because of that. It was because of something else . . ." She could feel the memories just waiting to unleash themselves upon her once more and pushed them away violently.  
  
"Something else?" Megumi prodded.  
  
"Nothing . . . forget about it."  
  
Megumi planted her hands on her hips and the look of annoyance grew on her face. "You're hiding something."  
  
"It is of no significance." Kaoru told her. That was a lie and they both knew it. Kaoru dropped her gaze to the floor. "I do not wish to talk about it."  
  
"So be it." Megumi sniffed. "You seem to be well enough."  
  
"Except for a headache," Kaoru muttered lowly. "Could you stop talking so loudly please?"  
  
Megumi made a tsking noise. "Serves you right."  
  
Kaoru winced and closed her eyes-the lights were too bright for her to stand comfortably.  
  
"You know, I think you even worried Kenshin."  
  
Kaoru reopened her eyes even as the headache escalated with the reintroduction to light. "What do you mean?"  
  
"He was concerned."  
  
"About me?"  
  
"Yes you idiot," Megumi said crisply. "He does care about you."  
  
"He doesn't show it, not really."  
  
"If one knows how to look for it, one can see," Megumi said. Her voice was tinged with wistfulness. "I wish you could have met him how he was before."  
  
"So do I," Kaoru said truthfully.  
  
"The person he was before-Shinta-I fear is dead and will never return to us."  
  
"As long as he is alive there is hope that he will," Kaoru murmured.  
  
"That is the problem," Megumi said softly.  
  
Once more Kaoru got the feeling she was being kept out of a secret that everyone else knew. She hated the feeling. "Why is that?"  
  
Megumi shook her head. "I am not the one to tell you."  
  
"Then who is?" Kaoru persisted. "Everyone else but me knows what is going on! Why am I different? Why must I be continually kept in the dark?"  
  
"Because that is how it must be." And Megumi would not have another word said about the matter. "Here." She dug around in the small pouch that was belted around her waist and handed Kaoru what seemed to be two small seeds.  
  
"What are they?" Kaoru asked, taking them from her. She sniffed them and sneezed instantly, the spicy smell of the seeds tickling her nose.  
  
"They'll help with your headache."  
  
"Thanks." Kaoru popped them into her mouth and chewed them, making a face at the sour taste they left in her mouth. "They taste awful."  
  
"They work," Megumi told her. "Stop complaining."  
  
"Guess they do," Kaoru admitted. She could already feel the headache receding in intensity.  
  
"Go back to sleep. I'll bring you some broth when you wake up later."  
  
"Doesn't that sound appetizing," Kaoru muttered, closing her eyes. She heard Megumi walk away from the pallet and a creak as the door was opened and closed. Then sleep grabbed her again and she was thrust back into memory-filled dreams.  
  
~*~  
  
"What did you do to him?"  
  
"I don't know. Honestly I don't!"  
  
"He's dead now."  
  
"I know."  
  
"You know."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I felt him die."  
  
"You felt him die?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"How do you not know?"  
  
"I just don't!"  
  
"Liar."  
  
"I honestly don't know! I don't know what I did to him! I'm sorry; I never meant to do it!"  
  
"You killed him."  
  
"I didn't mean to!"  
  
"He's dead because of you."  
  
"I didn't mean to! It was an accident!"  
  
"One you caused!"  
  
"Do you know what he was trying to do to me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you don't even care?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I hate you. I hate you all."  
  
"Will you try to kill us too?"  
  
"No! It was an accident! I never meant to!"  
  
"Then what did you mean to do?"  
  
"I just wanted him to go away, to leave me alone."  
  
"Well you got your wish granted. He's gone away and he'll never bother you again."  
  
"I never wished for that."  
  
"It still happened."  
  
"I know!"  
  
"Are you happy?"  
  
"No, why should I be? I have no reason to be happy . . . what are you going to do to me now?"  
  
"What do you think we should do to you?"  
  
"Are you going to kill me? Put me to death?"  
  
"Do you wish to die?"  
  
I don't know . . ."  
  
"We may yet have a use for you."  
  
"I don't want to be useful to you if you want to use me for what I can do."  
  
"You'd be alive."  
  
"I'd be alive-alive and damned. I won't be a murderer for you."  
  
"A pity."  
  
"I won't be a killer. I never meant to kill him."  
  
"You feel too much to be an effective weapon."  
  
"Is that a compliment or an insult?"  
  
"Take it as you wish."  
  
"Leave me alone."  
  
"I can't do that Kaoru. You know I can't."  
  
"Sure you can. You can lock me up in one of those stinking dungeons."  
  
"You almost sound as if you wish to be put in a dungeon."  
  
"Almost . . ."  
  
"Well that won't happen. We've decided your fate."  
  
"Please tell me then. I'd like to be prepared."  
  
"You're going to Hiten to marry the King."  
  
"What did I do to deserve this honor?"  
  
"Let's just say, we want you as far away from us as possible."  
  
"I honestly don't blame you."  
  
"No, I didn't think you would."  
  
"Why am I really going to Hiten?"  
  
"For the exact reasons I just told you."  
  
"No catches or strings attached?"  
  
"Absolutely none."  
  
"Sounds too good to be true."  
  
"Do you honestly think we'd send a real Full-Blood to Hiten when we could send a Half-Blood like you?"  
  
"Get the Tainted One out of the country and away from the Royals in case she decides to kill them and still forge an alliance. I hate games. Don't use me like some stupid pawn."  
  
"That's all you are Kaoru. That's all any of us are."  
  
"So when am I leaving?"  
  
"Soon. Very soon."  
  
"Wonderful."  
  
"Sarcasm does not become you."  
  
"I don't honestly care."  
  
"You'll be leaving soon."  
  
"When exactly?"  
  
"I do not know. You will be tutored in proper manners before leaving."  
  
"With a guard in the room ready and willing to kill me in case I try anything, right?"  
  
"Correct."  
  
"Leave me now."  
  
"Are you ordering me around?"  
  
"No. I'm just a lowly little bastard servant; there's no way I could order you around."  
  
"Good. I'll be leaving now since I've said all I need to say to you."  
  
"Goodbye."  
  
~*~  
  
~*~  
  
::grin:: Much evilness (and confusion) regarding Kaoru-chan!! And soon I'm going to start developing Kenshin and Kaoru's relationship! (You're all glad to hear that I think) Please look forward to it!  
  
Review Responses:  
  
No-One-Of-Impotance: ^.^ Arigatou!  
  
Alli: ^.~ I'm having so much fun with this puppy! ::bounces::  
  
Poppy2: ^.^ ::makes duplicate Kenshin's:: that way I can have a Kenshin, Kaoru can have a Kenshin and you can have a Kenshin! We're all happy now!  
  
Morgannia: The plot is starting to pick up though it'll still take a while. ^.^  
  
Kei-chan: Yes (almost) everybody except for Kaoru knows what's going on and she's the only one left in the dark. Poor Kaoru. And as for not receiving my Author-Alert FF.net has been messing it up lately - I'm not receiving some of my own AA's either!  
  
Ixchen: Thanks ::grin::  
  
Pia Bartolini: K/K action on the horizon! Look hard though!  
  
JML: ^.^ I agree I'm a bit sick of Kaoru vs. Tomoe for Kenshin's heart type stuff so I'm deliberately staying away from it.  
  
Snow White Hyatt: Love all your reviews! ^.~  
  
Teddy Grahms: ::blinkety blink:: Now that you mention it YES! She does. Creepy O.o; It was not my intention honestly.  
  
Hoshi-ni-Onegai: This fic is intentionally confusing it's the way my muses like it ::glares at them:: Well said about both Tomoe and Enishi! ::waves flag:: And yes I know about the meaning of Kenshin/Shinta's name ::cower:: I apologize eep!  
  
Pretty Luthien: I got the book but then my friend borrowed it and I haven't seen it since ~.~; Actually I see a lot more Robin McKinley influence in the fic than I do Tolkien (I love Tolkien though!) Oddly enough Memory, Sorrow and Sword makes me think I'm channeling her book "The Blue Sword." K/K is on the horizon!  
  
Punky1: It's going to be long (hopefully not as long as Sky Dweller because that fic is starting to get warped - in a good way, 25 chapters and I can see at least another 10 more for that fic plus a sequel ::Sky Dweller Fans cheer in the background::) but it will be long I'm thinking around 30 chapters (not sure at this point though).  
  
Califpinay3001: Thanks!  
  
Tan-chan!: ^.^ Next chapter is up! Get CDRS up ASAP!!!  
  
Clearsunrise: Glad you like it! ^.~  
  
KawaiiChica: You reviewed didn't you? ^.^ Thanks!  
  
Crystal Renee: You do the same thing I do with Cliffhangers! ::gets rotten fruit thrown at her by readers:: 


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Kenshin is slightly OOC here (from what we're used to anyway) keep in mind the situation at the moment and the fact he is NOT Kenshin-Rurouni so he will not act the same. Just clearing that up before I get "What in the WORLD? WHY/HOW is Kenshin acting like that?!"  
  
Kudos go out to my beta Regan!  
  
As always, read, enjoy and review!  
  
~LadyShiin  
  
~*~  
  
"What is on your mind, little one?" Shulya asked. She sat at her loom, her fingers pulling deftly at the threads, binding them together. The separate threads melded together beneath her fingers - they were the threads of destiny that formed the tapestry of fate that Shulya held in her hands, and she was the one who wove them.  
  
"Many things," Kaoru murmured.  
  
"Such as?" Shulya prompted.  
  
"Too many things. My thoughts are all tangled up in my mind."  
  
"Untangle them then," Shulya advised. "Sort them out and tell me what they are."  
  
Kaoru sighed. Many threads of thought, each tinged with a different color of worry. Which one to select first to tell? Which one was hardest to sort out? Which color of worry glowed brightest? She grasped at the first one that came within reach.  
  
"I don't understand Kenshin," Kaoru confessed. "I don't understand his motives toward me. He threatened war on Kasshin if a Princess was not sent - I'm not a Princess! I'm not a Queen either! He married me - supposedly - but it does not feel true. I'm not a Princess and I'm a Pretender-Queen. I feel like a fake."  
  
She chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't get his actions either. He avoids me, he doesn't tell me anything and I just know he's hiding something from me. I'm being kept in the dark while everything else around me knows whatís going on - everyone but me. I hate not knowing."  
  
"I see," Shulya smiled sympathetically.  
  
"I just want to know . . ." Kaoru murmured. "Why does Kenshin act like he does when he's around me? What exactly is the part I have to play in all of this? What exactly is going on? Why me?" She closed her eyes. "Too many questions and not enough answers."  
  
"That is how it must be," Shulya said softly. "That is the only way it can be."  
  
Kaoru sighed softly, opening her eyes slightly to peer at Shulya. "No other way?"  
  
"None," Shulya confirmed.  
  
"I'm afraid," Kaoru told her. Her voice was low and hushed.  
  
"Of what, little one?"  
  
"Of everything. Of failing when the time comes to do whatever it is that I have to do. Of letting down everyone who counts on me."  
  
"You won't," Shulya replied. "They will be there for you. They will support you. They won't allow you to falter or fail."  
  
"That's good to know." Kaoru resumed chewing her bottom lip, her frown fading but not disappearing completely.  
  
"You have no reason to be afraid, little one. Unsure, yes. Afraid, no." Shulya turned back to the loom and resumed her weaving. Kaoru watched her silently for several moments, sorting once more through the threads of her thoughts.  
  
"When did I begin to remember all of this? Before my visits to you were forgotten like dreams. Now they linger and remain. Why is that?"  
  
"Because the time is growing closer. Things are beginning to be set into motion and the Prophecy is starting to unfold itself. Already it has begun, that it has. Parts have come true and others hover there waiting." A strand of black crept closer to the interwoven blue, gold-violet, plum, and silver threads.  
  
"It will not be easy. You will suffer and you may even die little one. But you have a chance to defeat the darkness. A chance to keep the world free. And perhaps . . . perhaps a chance is all that you need," Shulya said thoughtfully.  
  
"Better than nothing," Kaoru agreed, but her voice lacked enthusiasm.  
  
"Indeed it is." Shulya was silent as she concentrated on her weaving and Kaoru spoke no further, leaving her to her task.  
  
Minutes passed . . .  
  
Shulyaís gasped exclamation drew Kaoru out of the protective, soothing cocoon of silence that had wrapped around her. Surprised, she watched as Shulya's fingers literally flew over the loom, tightening a thread here, adding another, pulling a loosened one back into the pattern, cutting another free with a pair of silver scissors that Kaoru had never seen before.  
  
The cause of her distress became evident as Kaoru moved toward her.  
  
The gold-violet thread was fraying.  
  
Kenshin's thread.  
  
"Go!" Shulya said, her voice sharp. "You must! Quickly! Leave me now! Oh little one leave now before it is too late!"  
  
"What's the matter? What is going on?"  
  
"Go Kaoru, go now!" Shulya commanded, tearing her gaze away from the loom. Her silvery eyes were shimmering with what Kaoru would have named tears. "Go now! Delay would mean disaster!" She was frantic.  
  
Kaoru.  
  
Shulya never called her Kaoru. It was always little one, whenever she did address her. Never her name. Never.  
  
Kaoru nodded, a lump of fear forming in her throat. "I'll go." As the decision was made she could feel the dream complying with her wish: ending.  
  
"Hurry," Shulya whispered. "Hurry!"  
  
~*~  
  
For a brief disorientating moment Kaoru lay on her pallet, her vision blurry and mind sleep-fogged. Sleeping . . . dreaming . . . The dream!  
  
She bolted upright, all traces of sleep disappearing. Her gaze jerked to the area where Kenshin slept and she found it empty.  
  
He was gone.  
  
He was in danger.  
  
But how could she help him? Kenshin was far and away a better fighter than she was. What could she do to protect him? To save him?  
  
Shulya had seemed certain she could save him - no matter how illogical it sounded that she would be the savior.  
  
Hurry! Shulya's voice whispered through her mind as desperate as before.  
  
Kaoru got to her feet, yanking on a pair of boots and binding the laces quickly. Her sleep-clothes were fine - no need or time to change them. Kaoru had followed the trend set by the others around her by sleeping in the clothes she wore during the day. Nightgowns were unheard of here.  
  
She grabbed her sword that lay near the bed and tied the belt from which it hung around her waist with quick fingers. She slipped it into its loop, feeling the sheath bang against her leg with the movement. She had not taken up sleeping with her sword as Kenshin did, but rather kept it near her, close within reach.  
  
If sheíd taken a moment to reflect (a moment she did not have) Kaoru would have been amazed at just how much she had changed since leaving Kasshin behind and coming to Hiten. The differences between the two countries were vast; it was like comparing a tame kitten to a fierce tiger.  
  
But she did not have time for such thoughts. Her sword at her hip, Kaoru dashed out of the tent. She did not think of rousing the others - she had to get to Kenshin. Wherever he was.  
  
It was far past the middle of the night. The moon was high and the sky beginning to lighten, the stars fading as dawn approached. The night air was chill and a cool breeze whipped in her face as she ran.  
  
The wind carried a smell that made Kaoru's stomach clench in nausea. Death, decaying things, corpse-rotted earth. The wind swirled it around her until it was all she could smell. She could taste it in her mouth, feel it saturate her pores. It swept away from her inch by inch forward, as if beckoning her to follow.  
  
Fighting back the bile that rose in her in her throat, she followed the wind. Wherever there was death and fighting, Kaoru knew she would find Kenshin.  
  
The wind led her away from the encampment in the meadow, past the corral that held the horses. They were milling about nervously as she ran by, a bright sheen of sweat on their flanks and white edging their eyes.  
  
Something was most definitely wrong.  
  
The horses felt it too.  
  
Kaoru lengthened her stride, her pace increasing slightly as she ran. Urgency ate at her. Shulya's warning, the scent on the wind, the actions of the horses all coupled within her.  
  
Her feet took her where they would, past the river, almost to the mountains that curled around the meadow.  
  
There she found Kenshin.  
  
From where he stood all she could see of him was his back. She felt herself relax once she noticed there seemed to be no vast amounts of gushing blood, missing limbs or broken bones. Maybe he was all right; maybe she had been wrong, and Shulya, too. Kenshin didn't look to be in trouble. There was nothing wrong with him that she could tell.  
  
That she could see . . .  
  
Was it her imagination or did the air around Kenshin seem darker? Thicker? The edges of his form seemed blurred and black. As if darkness itself had pounced upon his body.  
  
"Kenshin?" Kaoru said softly.  
  
A strained-looking tremor ran through him - an odd jerked motion.  
  
"Kenshin?" Kaoru asked again, stepping toward him.  
  
What she saw almost made her take those steps back.  
  
Opaque darkness had settled over him in a tight embrace. The edges wavered slightly as if touched by an unseen wind and Kaoru caught a flash of red amidst the blackness. Eyes.  
  
The darkness spilled into Kenshin's nose and mouth. It wrapped itself around his throat and body seeking to crush and strangle, completely immobilizing him. Kenshin's golden eyes were dim, the life draining from them.  
  
"Kenshin!" Without a thought for herself Kaoru leapt at the shadow- creature.  
  
Her sword flashed silver as she pulled it from its sheath and it arced toward the creature. Kaoru expected it to have no effect - the body of the creature seemed as insubstantial as mist. It would simply part away from her sword unharmed, then reform to attack her rather than Kenshin.  
  
Instead the creature let out a high pitched keen, shriller than an eagle's and many times more piercing as Kaoru's sword made contact with it. Her sword glinted blue as she hacked at the shadow, desperate to free Kenshin from it. The blackness was being cut away and Kaoru watched as it vanished into the air.  
  
The creature released Kenshin and turned, disappearing too quickly for Kaoru's eyes to follow. It had not been killed or destroyed, merely defeated.  
  
Kaoru slid her sword back into the sheath, the odd blue glow fading before she could take any notice of it. She dropped to her knees beside Kenshin. His eyes were wide open, glassy and unfocused. A mottling of bruises curved around his throat. Placing two fingers to the underside of his jaw Kaoru sought for his pulse and found it, weak but steady and rhythmical.  
  
How was she supposed to get him back? Kenshin was near her height, making him quite cumbersome to drag back and she was not sure of the extent of his injuries. Movement could irritate them and cause even more complications.  
  
Still . . . if she left him here alone there was no telling if the shadow- creature would return and attempt to kill him once again.  
  
Torn by indecision Kaoru didn't notice Kenshin stirring, his eyes opening and closing and the life filtering back into them.  
  
"Kao . . . ru?" Kenshin's usually smooth voice was hoarse. No wonder since the shadow-creature had been well along in its attempt to strangle him.  
  
"Are you okay?" Stupid question to ask, Kaoru mentally kicked herself. Of course he wasn't okay!  
  
"Aa," Kenshin murmured lowly. He braced a hand against the ground and attempted to get to his feet. Kaoru saw a flicker of pain cross his face and accompany the motion. She gently pushed him back against the ground.  
  
"Stupid," she told him. "You're not okay! You're injured! You shouldn't be moving at all! Much less be conscious!"  
  
Kenshin gave up his attempt to rise and simply laid back down, looking up at her with an unreadable expression on his face as she towered over him. "How did you find me?"  
  
"I woke up and you were gone. So I followed you." Kaoru said the first thing that came to her mind. She couldn't exactly say a dream-woman she visited in her sleep had told her he was in trouble and to go save him. "I found you being leeched off of by some kind of shadow-creature."  
  
"And you defeated it?" There was a note of surprise in Kenshin's voice.  
  
Kaoru shook her head. "Not really. More like I drove it off." She gazed around her surroundings warily, half expecting the shadow-creature to pop out of the ground and not be too surprised if it actually did. "I hope it doesn't come back."  
  
"It won't," Kenshin said. "Demons don't like sunlight much and it was not very strong."  
  
The sky was beginning to brighten and Kaoru could see a few stray flickers of golden light as the sun began its ascent. "How did it overpower you then if it was not very strong?"  
  
A look she would have almost called sheepish had it appeared on any other face but Kenshin's crossed his. "I did not expect it would try and possess me."  
  
"Oh." There really wasn't much else Kaoru could say to that, except berate him some more for being such an idiot. But Kenshin looked beat up enough already. He didn't need a tongue lashing from her, though she knew he was going to get one from Megumi.  
  
Kaoru turned her gaze to the sky. Dawn was spilling across it. The light was growing brighter, the darkness quickly diminishing and disappearing.  
  
"How do you propose we get back?" she asked Kenshin.  
  
"By walking," he said practically.  
  
Kaoru rolled her eyes. "Well I didn't expect we'd fly. But you're injured. You shouldn't be moving at all."  
  
"I'll be fine."  
  
"Not until you get some healing. Megumi will skin me alive if I move you. You are not fine."  
  
"I said I'm fine, Kaoru." Kenshin's golden eyes were flashing. "I'm fine!"  
  
"You can't even get up Kenshin," Kaoru pointed out. "You probably have a couple sprained - if not broken - ribs as well. You are not fine." Kaoru rubbed at her face in aggravation. They were getting nowhere and arguing was not helping. "Stop being so stubborn."  
  
"How do you propose we get back then?" Kenshin turned her question back on her.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Kenshin snorted. "Well that's as good an answer as any."  
  
Kaoru raised an eyebrow in annoyance. She never would have guessed that Kenshin could be like this: irritating, arrogant and a pain in the butt. She really hoped he was acting this way because he was in pain. If this was the way he usually acted (when he wasn't aloof and as distant as a ten foot pole) Kaoru would make sure to beat it out of him.  
  
"Don't bite my head off," she snapped, her temper rising to match his. "I didn't ask for you to go off hunting demons or whatever it was you were doing."  
  
"I didn't ask for you to follow me."  
  
"Lucky for you I did! You could at least be grateful!" She seethed.  
  
Kenshin didn't reply and Kaoru didn't expect him to. Arrogant, selfish, jerk! She fumed.  
  
"Thanks," his voice was low.  
  
"What?" Kaoru asked.  
  
"I said thanks," he ground out.  
  
"Oh. You're welcome," Kaoru blinked.  
  
"That still doesn't solve the problem of getting back since I can't move." Kenshin's eyes narrowed to a mild glare as he spoke. "And I highly doubt you can carry me."  
  
"I can't carry you," Kaoru said in agreement. An idea occurred to her. "Could you lean on me?"  
  
"Lean on you?" Kenshin mused. "I suppose."  
  
"Best chance we have unless you want to stay here for hours, waiting for someone and not sure when or if someone will come looking for us."  
  
"You could just walk back yourself."  
  
"I don't want to leave you alone," Kaoru protested.  
  
"I'll be fine -" Kenshin started but Kaoru cut him off.  
  
"Stop already! You are not fine!"  
  
Kenshin made a soft grumbling sound in his throat and Kaoru's lips twitched into a smile at the sound. He sounded like an offended cat and the analogy was apt when his catlike golden eyes and aloof mannerisms were added to the picture.  
  
"Here." She held out both hands to Kenshin and bent over him slightly, bracing herself. "Grab my hands and I'll pull you up."  
  
Silently Kenshin did so and Kaoru tugged as hard as she could, pulling him to his feet. He swayed slightly and she threw one of his arms over her shoulder to help keep him standing. Kenshin let out a soft hiss as he put weight on his left leg.  
  
"You okay?" Kaoru asked in concern.  
  
"My ankle," he muttered.  
  
"Nothing we can do about it now. We'll have Megumi look at it later when we get back."  
  
Kenshin nodded in agreement and they started off.  
  
"What happened to your sword?" Kaoru asked after they had gotten a few feet.  
  
"Demon absorbed it," Kenshin grumbled.  
  
"Absorbed it?" Kaoru asked, eyes widening.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then how come mine was able to have an effect on it?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Lovely," Kaoru muttered. "One more mystery to add to the mix."  
  
Kenshin quirked an eyebrow at her and she took it as an invitation to talk. Since they were stuck together for however long it would take to get back she might as well try to pull some answers out of him.  
  
"Can I ask you a few questions?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Promise to answer them?"  
  
"It depends on the content of the question," he said smoothly.  
  
Kaoru glowered at him. "Will you answer my questions or not?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
Yes, progress! Kaoru mentally congratulated herself. "Why did you want a Kasshin Royal Princess?"  
  
"Because Tomoe told me to."  
  
"Tomoe?" She knew Tomoe had something to do with all of this but never thought it would be because of Tomoe that she was here. "What does Tomoe have to do with all of this?"  
  
"Tomoe is a Seer, an Oracle if you wish."  
  
"Oh. So Tomoe told you to demand a Kasshin Princess?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But why threaten war on Kasshin?"  
  
"Do you honestly think Kasshin would willingly hand over a Princess unless it was threatened?" Kenshin retorted.  
  
"No," Kaoru sighed. "But I hate to break it to you - I'm not a princess. I'm a bastard child . . . my father was a prince and my mother a servant. Not royal at all."  
  
Kenshin didn't say anything. Kaoru fought the urge to scream. Talk! Comment on what I've just said! Say something!  
  
She sighed.  
  
Kenshin glanced at her. "What?"  
  
"Nothing . . ." You're aloof and uncaring and it's like pulling teeth to get a word out of you. Oh no Kenshin there's nothing wrong. Nothing wrong at all.  
  
"You're troubled by something."  
  
"You're so perceptive." Kaoru fought the urge to snap.  
  
"What's the matter?"  
  
"Are you actually showing concern toward me for once?"  
  
Kenshin blinked, looking surprised. "For once?"  
  
"Yes, for once! Honestly you act like I don't seem to matter at all. Like I'm nothing to you! You make me a Queen - your Queen - for reasons only the gods know and then you proceed to ignore me. You never speak to me, and you never tell me anything!"  
  
"What would you like me to tell you?" Kenshin asked.  
  
"Everything!" Kaoru shot back. "What is going on? What is the real reason I'm here?"  
  
"You want to know everything?" he asked.  
  
"Yes," Kaoru said without hesitation.  
  
"Fine then. I'll tell you everything."  
  
~*~  
  
::Ducks head:: Can we say cliffhanger? Yep! Don't worry I'm not evil (not much anyway) ::tries to look innocent:: Bleh... don't think it's working! ^.^  
  
Reviewer Responses: KawaiiChica: ^.^ You take care too and thanks! Bonessasan: Nope not given up at all ^.~ This is fic is going to keep coming and starting to go places! Fanfiction Wanderer: Eeep! No falling that's a bad thing! ^.^ One Black Tear: Glad you love it. I'm going to keep on writing more you can be sure of that. Tan-chan!: Yay! CDRS! ^.^ You've struck gold with that fic I absolutely adore it ::grin:: Can't wait for the next chapter type fast and you're computer better behave! - I loved that line in the last chapter as well I started laughing as I wrote it (goes the same for me too considering the way my gelding and mare act toward each other - or just my gelding. Smokey is absolutely besotted with Dancer ^.^ it's so cute! - though she can't stand him) Fyyrrose: ::hugs:: Thanks! SoonChaos: ::jots books down:: I shall read! Firefly: Oooh! Kenshin on top! ^.^ ::types madly:: Idyllic Bliss: Wait and see ::grin:: Hoshi-ni-onegai: I actually like Enishi (my Sky Dweller fans faint from shock) - I loved the fight between him and Kenshin in Seishouhen though his dub voice was pure and utter crud. He sounded like he had a Southern Accent! (No offense to those with Southern accents - I have an Irish one - just it was totally wrong for his character ~.~;) MoonlightPrincess003: As fast as I can! Crescent Wolf: Sorry if it's confusing (kinda meant to be that way) if you don't get anything feel free to ask. Val: Yep Tomoe knows everything ::grin:: and Kenshin will start developing a personality (besides being an aloof jerk) - he's not the happy cheerful Rurouni in this fic so please keep that in mind ^.^ Mia: Glad you love it! Teddy Grahms: O.o; Patented Update Dance? Awesome-ness! Poppy2: Yep sorry to break it to you but you will have to wait and see I'm not giving away anything ::hugs:: Crystal Renee: Eep! No going psycho! ::placates with brownies and hot chocolate:: Kyia Star: Exactly LOL! Califpinay3001: Thanks! Rekka's Angel: ^.^ - all Shiin-chan can do at the moment is smile - she's hyper at the moment. Hitokiri-miao miao: Yep Shulya is the woman that appears in Kaoru's dreams. HoNeyZ_RiNoA: Thanks on all counts! Scarlet Rayne: Yep sorta medievel-ish setting ^.^ what can I say I'm a history maniac and a fantasy freak it combines. Snow White Hyatt: ::pats back:: Sorry I can't let Tomoe die just yet she's a bit too essential to the story at the moment. Pia Bartolini: :X lips are sealed as to who's going to train her. Keirran: X.X pom pom = bad memories - think a VERY, VERY caffeine high Jessie and add poms to the mix ~.~;; I scarred people for life that day and got a new nickname: Pixie Ixchen: Glad you're happy it makes me feel good ^.^ Irksome One: It's okay you missed the last chapter ^.^ Thanks for reviewing! JML: ^.^ Thanks!! The Girl Who Cried Oro: O.o; suddenly the song "You Say it Best When You Say Nothing at All" started playing in my head O.O weirdness... Curls of Serenity: Yeah well she did kill the guy u.u; blame the family!  
  
~*~ 


	13. Chapter 13

::looks around carefully:: Hi everbody... new Chapter up .;; ::retreats quickly before the Shiin-hunt can begin:: Enjoy!

Shiin

"Fine then. I'll tell you everything."

At last!

Kaoru wanted to cheer. At last she would get the answers she so desperately sought. At last she would finally be able to understand what was going on around her and the part she was playing in all of this.

"But not now," Kenshin's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Why not?!"

The look he gave her was level and slightly stern, and she understood. Not out here in the open. Not here where something could hear, where the wind could carry their voices, the secrets, the things she needed to hear.

"I understand," she sighed.

The walk back to the camp was slow, their progress made difficult by Kenshin's injuries. Kaoru didn't know how far they were from the camp. Her feet had seemed to run of their own accord to Kenshin and she could not remember the distance it had taken. Her body had acted before her mind.

"So . . ." Kaoru attempted to start a conversation.

Kenshin cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yes?"

"Nothing . . ." Her words seemed to dry up in her throat.

What was there to talk about? What could she talk about with Kenshin? She knew next to nothing about him and one would think it would then be easy to start a conversation. The exact opposite was true. If she knew something about him then they would have something to say to one another. Something to talk about.

"You wanted to talk about something," Kenshin prodded.

Kaoru shook her head. "Forget it. It's not important, not at the moment at least."

"If you say so," Kenshin replied, sounding not at all convinced. Kaoru felt his shoulder move underneath hers as he shrugged.

Suddenly she heard a soft screech from above. Startled, she snapped her gaze upward and saw Enishi's falcon hovering just a few feet above her head.

"It's Enishi's falcon," Kaoru murmured softly, stating the obvious.

Kenshin nodded. "They'll be here soon. It is never far from Enishi."

"Should we just wait then?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin nodded again. "It would be best."

And easiest, Kaoru thought but didn't say. She didn't know the true extent of Kenshin's injuries but she didn't want to push him any harder than she had to.

The falcon swooped downward until it was eye level to her; its golden eyes bright and surprisingly intelligent. For a split second its gaze locked with hers and then it swerved away, turning almost on wingtip.

"It's gone to get Enishi now," Kenshin commented, his own golden eyes watching it fly away.

"Let's sit down while we wait," Kaoru suggested.

Kenshin's gaze sharpened, his eyes growing cold and Kaoru fought back a sigh.

"I don't know about you," she grumbled as she slipped out from under his arm and sank down to sit on the still dew-wet grass, "but I'm exhausted. So if you don't mind me, I'm just going to sit here and wait for them to come get us."

Kenshin grunted softly and folded his legs underneath him, settling down beside her.

Kaoru shucked off a boot and massaged her foot, sighing this time in relief. "My feet are no longer plotting my demise."

Kenshin snorted and out of the corner of her eye she caught him rolling his eyes. Childishly she stuck her tongue out at him. He gazed back at her steadily, clearly unbothered by her actions.

"Let me see your ankle." She scooted closer to him and touched her hand to his boot.

Kenshin shook his head. "Leave it on, it'll help keep it supported."

"I want to see how bad it is. It could be broken."

"It's not broken," Kenshin replied.

"How do you know?" Kaoru countered.

"I've suffered enough broken bones to be able to tell if it's broken or not." Kenshin's voice was smooth and distant, his golden eyes dark.

Kaoru took that as an unspoken cue to back down and stop pestering him. Of course he'd know if it was broken and from what little Megumi had told her about his childhood, broken bones would have scarcely been a rare occurrence.

But all she wanted was to help him....

Why wouldn't he allow it? He certainly had to be hurting. Would allowing someone else to help him really be that bad? True, she may not be the best at healing - that was Megumi's strength - but she could do enough to make him comfortable and at least help ease the pain slightly. His reluctance to admit weakness or pain made Kaoru feel like pulling at her hair in frustration.

"Mou!" She huffed. "You're so exasperating!"

Kenshin snorted again, his golden eyes lighter than they had been a moment ago.

"Bleh, Kaoru grumbled, running a hand through her hair. She winced as her fingers snagged in a knot. First thing she was doing after finding out exactly what was going on around her was taking a long, hot bath.

Kenshin stiffened slightly, cocking his head to the side as if listening. "They're here now."

Barely had the words left his mouth when Kaoru heard the familiar thunk of hooves against ground and horses appeared through the trees. She glimpsed Karuna as well as Kenshin's stallion. Tomoe was astride a tall gray mare that Kaoru remembered was named Inkka and Enishi was at her side, horseless but with his falcon perched on his shoulder.

Kaoru clambered to her feet and helped Kenshin get to his as Fiachra broke free of the group of horses to come to Kenshin's side and the tired man, leaned (gratefully) against him. The stallion turned his head toward Kenshin and lipped at the sleeve of his shirt, before letting out a warm breath.

Kaoru smiled and stepped away from Kenshin. Karuna trotted up to her, butting her head against her chest as she came within reach and nickering softly. Kaoru pushed the mare's thick forelock out of her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

"Are you all right?" Tomoe's voice sounded from above her and Kaoru peered over her shoulder. She had never seen Tomoe ride before but she looked perfectly at home on Inkka's back. The gray mare seemed quiet, displaying none of the nervousness that Kaoru usually saw in horses when they were around the breve-saol.

"I'm ok," Kaoru told her. "Kenshin's a bit banged up, but none of us are seriously hurt."

Tomoe nodded. "That's good. I'll treat you both when we get back to the camp."

Kaoru nodded and mounted Karuna. Once astride the palomino mare a wave of exhaustion hit her so hard she swayed and had to grab onto Karuna's mane to keep from toppling off. Karuna whickered softly and set off in a smooth, gentle trot.

Beside her Kenshin was on Fiachra looking just as exhausted as she felt. Kaoru fought to keep her eyes open but soon succumbed to weariness. Her hands twined tightly in Karuna's mane, an anchor to keep her on the palomino's back, and she slept on the way back to the encampment.

A sudden jolt brought Kaoru back from her light, dreamless sleep. Karuna had come to a stop in the middle of the camp and people were beginning to emerge from the tents to see what had happened.

She could see Misao and Yahiko coming out of their own tents. Misao's eyes widened upon seeing her and she made as if to dash toward her, but in the last second restrained herself and walked calmly over to where a crowd had already gathered. Yahiko's eyes were just as wide and Kaoru wondered what it was that they saw when they looked at her. She wasn't hurt, not much at least. Just completely and utterly exhausted.

She looked over to where Kenshin sat on Fiachra and saw that he had not dozed off as she had, but still looked ready to drop off to sleep in an instant. His gaze was on the crowd and he somehow managed to look sharp despite his obvious drowsiness. He gave a curt nod and if that was some kind of signal they dispersed, fading back into the tents.

"Come." Tomoe's touch on her arm brought her back to herself. The breve-saol had already dismounted Inkka and Kaoru could see the gray mare standing off to the side, as if waiting for the other horses to join her, before moving off.

Kaoru gave a weary nod and dismounted slowly, her legs buckling slightly as they touched the ground, and she leaned against Karuna's shoulder in an attempt to steady herself. Once she was certain she had her feet underneath her, she stepped away from the mare and gave her a pat on the shoulder. The mare nickered softly, as if convinced, and then trotted over to where Inkka as well as Fiachra stood and the three horses moved off to the corral.

"Let me tend to you." Tomoe touched her shoulder once more, and Kaoru followed her toward the tent where Tomoe and Enishi resided, a ways from the rest of the camp. Kenshin was following Enishi a few feet away from her, his golden eyes dull with fatigue, and he almost seemed to be dragging his feet. There was a noticeable limp to his injured leg.

Kaoru sidled up to him and wrapped her arm around his waist, leaning against him. Kenshin stiffened at first at her touch, then relaxed and leaned against her as well. They supported one another until they reached Tomoe and Enishi's tent and went inside.

Inside, the tent was different than any of the others that Kaoru had been in. In a way it resembled Megumi's with the bunches of herbs tied to the ceiling poles and the sticks of incense that were burning. Two bundles of hide were pushed off in a corner and a small ring of stones held the remains of a long died-out fire. The floor was an odd beige-colored hide that stretched from end to end. It felt soft and slightly springy underneath Kaoru's feet.

The energy inside the dwelling felt odd . . . not weird, exactly, but definitely different. Almost as if something essential was missing, and Kaoru realized once more the burden of being a breve-saol. A half-soul. Half-alive and half-dead.

"Sit," Tomoe told her in a voice that was as much a suggestion as a command.

Kaoru did what she was told and all but collapsed onto the floor. It felt extremely comfortable and her exhaustion rose up once more, almost overwhelming her. Her eyes started to drift shut and she struggled to stay awake.

A soft thump on the mattress made her open her eyes marginally and she saw Kenshin settle down beside her. Enishi leaned against one of the walls, his falcon still perched upon his shoulder. His white hair stuck up in all directions and his eyes were looking at something above her head, not quite focusing but definitely not blank either. He was ignoring the two of them completely.

Tomoe reappeared in her field of vision, holding a small clay mug. She settled down on her heels in front of Kaoru and pushed the mug toward her, who grasped it without thinking.

"Drink it." Once more Tomoe's voice hovered between command and suggestion, but it left no choice but to obey.

Kaoru raised it to her lips and took a sip. A burning sensation filled her mouth and raced down her throat. Coughing harshly she pushed it toward Tomoe who pushed it firmly back toward her. A bitter taste lingered in her mouth and Kaoru was reminded strongly of the medicines she was forced to take as a child.

"Drink it all." This time Tomoe's voice was definitely a command. "It will help you. You have drained yourself. It will make you sleep."

"I don't want to sleep," Kaoru murmured. "I want to know what's going on. Kenshin promised he would tell me."

"There will be time for that later." Tomoe took the mug from Kaoru's hands and lifted it to her lips. "For now you must sleep. Just sleep."

Kaoru screwed her eyes shut and swallowed the bitter tasting liquid as it flowed into her mouth and down her throat. The burning sensation did not fade and she could feel it spreading through her body, from down through her arms and legs to the very tips of her fingers and toes. With it came a drowsy feeling that she could not fight. Scarcely had the last drop passed her lips than Kaoru found herself asleep.

"Ugh," the world spun around as Kaoru opened her eyes. A cool hand pushed her bangs out of her face and rubbed her temples.

Shulya.

Kaoru was back in the dream world.

"How are you little one?"

"I feel like I've been hit over the head one too many times with a club," Kaoru groaned. Her head pounded and her limbs felt heavy. "What did Tomoe make me drink anyway?" she groused, summoning her strength to sit up.

"She was only doing as she should."

"There goes my theory that she was trying to poison me."

Shulya snorted and held out a hand toward her. Kaoru grasped it and let Shulya help her to her feet. Once upright she swayed and felt Shulya's arm wrap around her shoulder, holding her and helping her stand.

"I just want to sleep," Kaoru yawned.

Shulya chuckled softly. "Silly little one. You are sleeping."

"Sure doesn't feel like it."

Shulya clucked her tongue and helped steer Kaoru over to her loom. There beside the chair that she usually sat on when weaving, was a chair similar to it. It was in that chair that she let Kaoru sit on before sinking gracefully down on her customary seat.

"You did well little one. You saved Kenshin."

"I didn't do anything," Kaoru protested. It felt like she hadn't done much.

"You did as much as you should. Without your interference that demon would have killed Kenshin and then possessed him, and all would have been lost. Yes, indeed you did well little one."

Kaoru reached up and rubbed at her eyes. "I just wish I knew what was going on."

"Soon you will," Shulya said soothingly. "You just have to be patient."

"I have been patient!"

"Just a little while longer," Shulya's voice didn't lose its soothing quality and Kaoru felt herself calm down.

With a sigh, she raked her hand through her bangs, pulling them out of her eyes.

The tapestry that Shulya wove looked for the most part unchanged. There were still the white threads, the intermingling gray threads and then the black threads. She could see her blue thread, intertwined closely with the violet-gold, and felt some comfort looking at it.

Kaoru let her eyes trace the progress of the violet-gold thread. Here and there it was crisscrossed with white and gray and as her gaze moved steadily upward near the top of the tapestry to where the violet-gold thread originated she could see it nearly eclipsed by black thread.

"What does that mean?"

"Hmm . . . ?" Shulya asked distractedly. She followed Kaoru's gaze and her face tightened.

"The violet-gold thread runs the course of Kenshin's history. His destiny."

"But why so much black?" Kaoru felt some panic as she looked at the thread.

"You should know the answer to that." Shulya gazed at her pointedly.

Kenshin's past . . . his brothers . . . how they had treated him....

Kaoru sighed. ìI wish there was some way I could help him."

"You empathize with him. Care for him. Understand him. That is enough."

"No! No it isn't enough! I don't understand him well enough! I don't understand him at all!" Kaoru cried, her hands clenching tightly. Her nails bit into her hands and the pain forced her to unclench them and shake them, as much in annoyance as to ease the pain.

Shulya's eyes looked solemn as they gazed into Kaoru's. "Do you really want to know about Kenshin?"

"Yes," Kaoru answered. She didn't even have to think twice about it. She wanted to understand him. To know who he really was. To help him in any way that she could.

This time it was Shulya who sighed. "Very well then." She took one of Kaoru's hands in her own and lifted it toward the tapestry. Her fingers brushed against the violet-gold thread . . .

"Bastard!" Kaoru felt the blow as if she herself had been struck.

Her vision reeled for a moment and then she caught sight of a small, slender young boy. His thick red hair was tied back in a braid and his violet eyes were blank. A bruise blossomed against the pale skin of his cheek and his lower lip was split, blood flowing down his chin.

Towering over him were two other boys, their hair red as well but darker than his. Auburn . . . russet...

As she watched the taller of the two hit him again, snapping his head to the side with the force of the blow.

"Think you're so great don't you Shinta?" The other boy sneered as the taller hit the child again. "Daddy's little favorite. Daddy's little bastard."

The boy - Shinta - Kenshin - said nothing and just stared back at them, his violet eyes not showing any emotion.

This time it was the younger boy who hit him, managing to knock him down. He kicked Shinta twice in the ribs for good measure, a look of hatred shining in his coal-colored eyes.

"Come on Isao," the taller one touched his shoulder and throwing a hate filled look at Shinta - who was curled up on the ground, clearly expecting to be kicked again. "He isn't worth it."

"No, he isn't," Isao agreed. "He's worth nothing! He's worthless! You hear me, you little piece of shirt? You're _worthless!"_

He turned on his heel and the taller one followed suit, leaving their brother behind.

Shinta lay on the ground unmoving until he was certain they were gone. As Kaoru watched he pushed himself up by his elbows and climbed stiffly to his feet.

"Shinta!" A girl's voice broke through the air and Kaoru turned her head with his. A small girl a few years younger than Shinta ran toward him. Her black hair was loose and flared out behind her as she ran and her brown eyes were worried and full of tears.

Megumi. A very young Megumi.

"Oh Shinta!" She exclaimed as she neared him. Her hand reached out to touch his bruised and bleeding face and Kaoru saw him flinch slightly before allowing her to touch him.

"Those... those... jerks!." She spat the word, her brown eyes were fierce with hatred. "They have no right to treat you like that! How dare they!"

"It's okay Megumi," Shinta murmured, barely moving his lips as he spoke.

"No it's not!" Megumi snapped, a tear falling from her eye. She roughly brushed it away. "It's not okay at all!"

"It's my atonement, Megumi," Shinta said softly. He closed his eyes slightly and brushed past her. Megumi watched him go, her face full of sorrow and her eyes sad.

The scene changed again . . .

"Stop it!" A voice she recognized as Shinta's - Kenshin's - broke through the early morning air.

"Come on!" Another voice snapped. "Hold still damn you!"

"No!" Shinta's voice rose in pitch. "Stop it please!"

Kaoru found herself standing several feet away. In front of her she could see Shinta held tightly by two of his brothers. A third stood in front of him, a sharp bladed knife clutched in one hand.

"Come on," his third brother laughed. "It won't hurt that much. It'll make you a hell of a lot prettier too!"

"Please stop it!" There was a definite note of panic as his brother approached him, the knife upraised.

The knife snapped forward and Shinta jerked his head to the side just in time. The knife missed its mark; instead of embedding itself in his eye it skittered down his cheek, leaving a trail of red in its wake.

"Damn it!" the brother holding Shinta's left arm cursed. "You missed!" He twisted Shinta's arm savagely, making him cry out.

"I won't this time," the other snapped. He approached Shinta again. Once more the knife darted forward and Shinta twisted his head away. Another line joined the first, crossing it and forming an _X_.

"Damn you!" The same brother who had cursed before repeated. "Hold still!"

"No! No I won't!" Tears fell from Shinta's eyes, mingling with the blood from the slashes on his face.

A shout from a different voice rang through the air. The three brothers stiffened and snapped their heads in the direction from which it had come. Kaoru followed their gaze to see a soldier dressed in red running toward them.

The brothers holding Shinta's arms dropped them and fled. The one holding the knife followed suit not far behind them, tossing the bloodstained knife to the side.

Shinta watched them go, tears still streaming down his face. Kaoru's heart broke as she looked into his violet eyes. There was a vacant look in those eyes. A broken look. A look of one whose soul was slowing dying inside of him.

Once more the scene changed.

They were in some sort of arena. People filled the stands and their yells were deafening. Looking down, Kaoru saw what held their attention.

It was the succession battle.

Shinta - Kenshin - was covered in blood but none of it seemed to be his. His sword was stained red and Kaoru watched as he launched himself toward one of his opponents so rapidly she could hardly see him move. A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the air and the person who had been in front of him fell to the ground in two pieces.

Shinta had just killed one of his brothers.

Again she watched him blur toward his nearest opponent. The man didn't even have the chance to scream, much less raise his sword against him, as he died.

Two more fell to Shinta's sword and at last there was only one left.

Kaoru recognized him as the one who had attempted to take out Shinta's eyes and who had given him his cross-shaped scar.

The man's death was quick. Shinta decapitated him, slashing him from navel to throat before taking off his head in one quick swing. His blood showered the ground, turning the sand underfoot a dark crimson.

Blood-covered Shinta turned toward the crowd. As Kaoru watched his violet eyes seemed to be leeched of their color, turning a light gray before then hardening and the remaining color shifted, darkening to a bright, glittering gold.

He thrust his blood-covered sword in the air and let out a scream that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. The crowd roared back in approval.

Kaoru felt the tears run down her face.

This was how Shinta had died.

This was how he had become Kenshin.

Alone and unseen, Kaoru wept for him.


	14. Author's Note

Author's Update:

These past few months have been really hard for me.

Everything that could happen happened. I was in the hospital for being suicidal; my insurance ran out, my psychologist went on maternity leave. I was recently diagnosed Bipolar and trying to deal with everything that was happening forced me to put my stories on hold. I just couldn't write when I was as depressed as I was. I've now been put on some really great medicine as well as seeing a new psychologist and that has helped a bit.

People have probably been wondering what happened to me. And that is what has happened to me. I'm not asking for any pity or what not, I'm just letting you know what's going on with me. I hope to soon update Sky Dweller, Endless Sorrow and Memory, Sorrow, and Sword. I don't know when yet because I'm still trying to be stabilized and once I am I will start writing again. Until then it is impossible for me to write given the situations around me. Just writing to let you know what's going on with me.

Best wishes,

LadyShiin


	15. Chapter 14

Yay new chapter after ack so long!

Yes I do know what Kenshin and Shinta means but I've twisted the meanings around to fit the story.

Enjoy!

Shiin

Kaoru woke to find Tomoe standing over her with a cup in her hand. She accepted it gratefully and raised to her lips, taking a slight sip half-expecting it to be another sleeping potion.

It was only tea.

Kenshin was still laid out on a pallet asleep beside her and Kaoru resisted the urge to go over and hit him until he awoke and demand answers.

What she had just seen in her dream of him, flashed through her mind and her grip on the cup tightened.

"Did you know him before?" Kaoru asked softly.

Tomoe tilted her head at her questioningly.

"When… when he was Shinta… Before…" Before the ascension battle before he had killed his brothers and become Kenshin.

Tomoe shook her head soundlessly. "I have known him only as Kenshin and little enough at that."

"He's not an easy man to know," Kaoru murmured.

"He isn't at that." Tomoe agreed.

"How are his injuries?" Kaoru inquired.

"Not too bad considering what they could have been." Tomoe replied. "Once he awakes Megumi will check on him."

Kaoru opened her mouth to ask how long it would be until he awoke but he was already stirring beside her.

He pushed himself up and accepted the cup of tea Tomoe poured and handed to him, wincing slightly as he swallowed.

"Good you're awake," Kaoru said cheerfully. "Explanations would be good right about now."

Kenshin blinked at her for a moment and then nodded as he remembered.

Kaoru smiled at him, "start talking and don't try to get out of it because you nearly got strangled."

"Fine…" To his credit his voice did sound rather hoarse. Tomoe took his cup away from him momentarily to fill it up with more tea.

"It's a long story…"

"I've got time." Kaoru said.

"I've already told her about Hiko Seijurou and some of the history of our country." Tomoe said, possibly wanting to spare his throat as much as possible.

Kenshin nodded, "after Hiko sealed Shishio away everything was peaceful. Kasshin and Hiten existed easily alongside each other and their magic flourished. But Kasshin's magic started to fade. We don't exactly know the true reason – perhaps it faded because they stopped believing in it. Or it had begun to fade even before that. We don't know." He paused to take a sip of tea and Kaoru mentally congratulated herself that she got more than six sentences in a row out his mouth."

"And this has to do with me because…?" Kaoru murmured.

"Shishio is breaking free again," Kenshin said.

"That's a bad thing," Kaoru stated.

Kenshin snorted.

'Very bad thing,' she amended.

"What does it have to do with me again?" She repeated.

"You're a key part in it. And that is all we know."

"Lovely," Kaoru muttered.

"You could say that," Kenshin closed his eyes and she was struck suddenly how tired he looked. Guess fighting off demons attempting to possess you took a lot out of you.

At least she was now beginning to understand:

Big bad demon breaking free and she was supposed to stop/help stop him. How she had no clue. But hey she was supposed to do it.

Kaoru ground her teeth in frustration.

'I've been here what? Six or seven months? Think I could have been told a wee bit earlier?' She groused.

'They probably thought you'd react like all the other princesses and freak and demand to be taken home,' a little voice at the back of her mind piped up.

'At least I'm not dodging drunken Princes.' She retorted. 'No all I have to worry about is Kenshin… if he ever shows any interest in me that way, that is. Which he has not so shut up.'

'Have you really been giving him a chance? You've avoided him as much as he's avoided you.'

'Self-preservation,' she snapped back.

'Preservation from what?' They asked.

She snarled silently in response.

"I'm going to go to bed," she pushed herself up from the floor before she launched herself at Kenshin and throttle him.

She stomped out of Tomoe and Enishi's tent before she started breaking things.

The air was colder than usual and Kaoru shivered. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms as she strode back to the tent quickly trying to keep warm. There seemed to be a faint electricity in the air and a look skyward showed that clouds were moving to cover the moon and stars.

A storm coming perhaps?

Her tent was lovely and warm and she crawled into her pallet, pausing only to unbuckle her sword and lay it within reach. She was asleep almost instantly and found that she did not dream.

000

Like Kaoru, Kenshin left Tomoe and Enishi's tent and hurried back to his own.

Sleep claimed him the second his head touched the pillow unlike Kaoru, however he did dream.

It was dark.

Faintly he could hear the sound of someone singing.

A light flickered in the distance beckoningly and it seemed to be the same place from which the singing was coming from.

With nothing better to do than stand there lost in the dark Kenshin followed the singing and walked toward the light.

What he found had him blinking.

A woman was sitting at a loom spinning threads into a large tapestry. She was still singing though the song contained no words he understood.

She raised her head as he approached and he was struck by the color of her. Or rather the colors that made her up. Her hair and kimono were silvery with shots of color running through them. Her eyes were crystal like reflecting the glow of the lamp.

She smiled when she saw him and he saw faint wrinkles around her eyes but couldn't put a guess to her age.

"I was wondering when you would come to visit me that I was." She murmured.

"Who are you?" Kenshin asked.

"The little one calls me Shulya. So you may call me that as well Kinglet."

Kenshin twitched.

Kinglet?

She noted the flash in his eyes and cocked her head at him, "or would you rather I call you by your name… Shinta?"

"Shinta is dead." Kenshin replied.

"And yet you still live." She countered.

"Shinta died a long time ago. I'm Kenshin now."

"The boy with a hole in his heart," Shulya murmured.

Kenshin didn't reply and she made a tsking noise.

"You were born Shinta and you will die Shinta. The name you call yourself in between is irrelevant."

"You don't know anything about me." Kenshin bit off.

Her eyes pierced him. "… or is it rather I know too much Kinglet?"

Kenshin closed his eyes and she made another tsking sound. "You're as bad as the little one that you are. Worse even."

He opened his eyes slightly, "little one?"

"Little one yes… Kaoru…" Her eyes glinted. "You're wife."

"Name only." He answered.

"Is that how you truly wish it to be?" Shulya asked softly. "She is a match for you."

Kenshin shook his head, "she is…"

"Too innocent? Then you do not know her at all because you have refused to let yourself. Kaoru has lived a life as hard as you, worse in some aspects."

"How…?"

"You are both half-bloods but at least you were acknowledged. Kaoru never had that. She was only acknowledged when her usefulness became apparent to her family."

"They…"

"Did not attempt to kill her? They did that and worse." Shulya cut him off. "Had she less spirit and fight in her she would have been made in a lordling's plaything with no soul left to speak of." She held up a hand as she saw his mouth open again. "She has blood on her hands just as you do."

Kenshin's eyes widened, "she killed?"

"To save herself. Just as you killed your brothers."

Kenshin flinched.

"Anything else?" Shulya asked idly.

Kenshin glared and her mouth twitched. "Don't worry so Kinglet."

There was the very audible sound of Kenshin's teeth grinding together and Shulya merely beamed at him. "Now scamper off Kinglet. You will not be refused that you will not."

Before he could reply Kenshin found himself flung out of his dream.

000

A loud rustling and creaking woke Kaoru. The temperature in the tent had dropped several degrees and she burrowed deeper to avoid it. A sudden cracking sound had her stiffening and was the only warning she had as the tent folded in upon itself and collapsed.

Kaoru cursed and fought her way through the folds of tent, mentally thanking whoever had designed it had made it light. Then again it was expected to be portable on horseback, she mused as she rolled out from under the tent and into a rather deep patch of snow.

Snow?

Since when had there been snow on the ground?

Kaoru blinked at the fluffy white-tinged stuff in confusion noting the sizzle of electricity along her skin wherever she touched it.

Whatever the hell this was, it was not ordinary snow.

She noted also that three or four other tents seemed to have collapsed their occupants appearing and they seemed unconcerned. The ones that had been forced to clear out of their tents merely went into the nearest tent.

Too late and too cold to do anything about it, Kaoru supposed.

She might as well do the same. She cast one annoyed look at her now flattened-snow covered tent and picked her way through the odd snow to the nearest tent.

Pushing back the flap she murmured a soft apology to whoever's tent she had just invaded and froze.

Of all tent's she just had to end up at Kenshin's.

From the look of it he had been sleeping. He sat up when entered and she suppressed a giggle. Bed head did not sit well with him.

"My tent collapsed. I'm sharing yours. So scoot over it's cold!" She informed him and without preamble crawled in beside him.

He stiffened and she fought the urge to hit him.

"It's cold. Your bed – and you – are warm. So shut up and scoot over." Kaoru grumbled.

"Never said anything." Kenshin muttered.

It was too dark for him to see her sticking her tongue at him. She huffed and curled up beside him.

She was asleep almost instantly but Kenshin didn't have the luxury. Kaoru had scooted closer in to him in her sleep – which he didn't blame her. She was cold! A fact made painfully aware to him when her hands slipped around her waist.

Those soft purring-snores she made weren't helpful either. He moved to remove her hands but the grip around his waist only tightened.

He attempted to scoot a bit farther but she flung her leg across his effectively using him as a full-body pillow.

Kenshin's glower was lost in the dark.

000

Kaoru yawned and stretched as she awoke. Blinking several times as she woke up she came face to face with Kenshin.

"Morning," she yawned again.

Kenshin snorted and she raised an eyebrow.

What was the matter with him?

Realization dawned on her at her realization the position she was in.

She had pretty much plastered herself across him sometime during her sleep. One hand had red hair wound around her fist and the other arm was thrown about his waist.

"Guess I should have told you I'm clingy?" Kaoru offered as way of an apology.

Kenshin blinked and she suddenly did not like the look in his eyes.

She yipped as she found herself suddenly picked up. Cold air hit her as he ducked under the tent flap and she yelped again.

"What are you…?"

The answer to question was revealed as she found herself dumped into a very deep snowdrift.

"What was that for?" Kaoru screeched as she floundered her way out of the snow.

"Keeping me up all night," Kenshin replied and disappeared into the tent.

Kaoru was pretty sure she woke up everyone who was still asleep at that hour screaming after him.

Still fuming she stomped back into the tent.

"What are you…?" This time it was Kenshin's turn to ask.

"Clothes. Gimme now. Mine are either buried or all wet thanks to you. And since we're relatively the same size I'm going to wear yours."

The sputtering sound he made nearly made up for the fact she was now freezing and wet.

She brushed past him and went to the drawers and began pulling out clothes.

"Kenshin… why do you have a pink gi in here?"

She turned and found he had disappeared.

"Dammit," she muttered.

She changed into his clothes grabbing a sash to wrap around her waist. A thick and heavy if somewhat oversized coat was also found and she pulled it on relishing the way the fabric trapped her body heat. She wrung her hair dry and tied up and off her neck.

The looks she got when came out of the tent made her want to scurry back inside.

"Oh bloody hell," she muttered. 'Nothing happened and STOP looking at me like that. Next thing I know I'm going to have people coming up to me and speculating… argh! If you REALLY think that – go and inform your king to stop acting like an idiot!'

"Where is Misao?" Kaoru grumbled. "I need to whine very badly."

She found her inside of her tent rolling up the bed pallet.

"Kaoru?" Misao blinked. "What happened?"

"Long story," Kaoru groused and plopped down next to her.

"I see your tent collapsed." Misao said.

"Yep," Kaoru closed her eyes.

"And…?"

"Ended up in Kenshin's."

"Ah… did…?'

"No."

"No?"

"No."

Misao made a tsking noise. "And I thought Aoshi was bad."

Kaoru opened her eyes slightly, "don't tell me…?"

"Yep."

"Blast it."

"You could always ask Megumi to put something in his drink." Misao said.

"Six months," Kaoru fumed. "Ok I admit I was running like a startled rabbit at first, but gah… he's worse than I am."

Misao snorted.

"I think I'll go see how Karuna is faring with all the snow we have." Kaoru pushed herself up from the ground and gave Misao a smile before disappearing.

000

The snow reached well past her knees but Kaoru managed to find some parts where it was packed densely so if she stepped quickly and carefully she could walk on top of it.

She found the herd of horses romping through the snow, scattering it in all directions.

Karuna was in the middle of rolling and Kaoru shook her head as she got to her feet covered in at least three inches of snow.

Fiachra was at the edge of the meadow digging at the snow to reach the grass underneath.

Karuna's head jerked in Kaoru's direction as she was spotted and the palomino mare let out a soft whinny and leapt through the snow to her side.

"Having fun?" Kaoru stroked her forehead as Karuna came to a stop in front of her.

Karuna nickered softly and nudged her pockets.

Kaoru shook her head, "no treats girl."

Karuna huffed softly, gave her pockets one more hopeful nudge and then turned away to go back to playing in the snow.

Kaoru watched her for a few moments more before heading back to the camp.

The people were busy at work clearing the snow away and righting the collapsed tents. Kaoru eyed hers which was still flat on the ground dubiously.

The sound of hooves thundering toward the camp pulled her attention away and she narrowed her eyes as a group of chestnut horses she hadn't seen before galloped toward the camp, their riders hunched low on their backs.

Several people jumped out of the way as they flowed into the camp and Kaoru herself leapt backward as the lead horse came to a stop right in front of her. His rider swayed and fell from the saddle, to land on the ground in heap.

"What the?" Kaoru stepped toward the prone figure but stopped bewildered as Megumi suddenly pushed past her cursing under her breath.

"Stupid fool," Megumi grumbled under her breath as she propped the man up so she could check for injuries.

He opened one eye and grinned at her, "hi Fox. Long time no see."

"What did you do this time Sano?" She snapped.

"Fighting Demons," he grinned and then winced as she prodded him sharply in the side with a finger. "Oww!"

"Broken rib," Megumi muttered. "Luckily your head isn't broken."

"Oh now that you mentioned it," Sano's voice started to become a bit slurred. "Everything is going dark…" He slumped over unconscious and Kaoru saw Megumi ball her hands into fists to keep from hitting him.

"Uh…" Kaoru blinked. "Who is he?"

"Sanosuke Sagara." Megumi sounded exasperated, "Leader of the Sekihoutai and my husband."


	16. Chapter 15

Another chapter. Feels short to me but it ends in a good place for the next chapter to pick up from and roll with. We actually get some KK interaction and more things are set into motion – this fic isn't going to be done anytime soon, so please sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride .

Shiin

000

Megumi waved away Kaoru's attempts to help her and half-dragged, half-carried Sano into her tent where she dumped him onto one of the pallets with a not-too-gentle thud.

Kaoru winced in sympathy. Megumi was not in a good mood and hurt or not she seemed ready to take it out on Sano.

Sano's eyes flickered open and he groaned softly.

"Idiot." Megumi balled her hand into fists to keep from hitting him... or strangling him.

Sano blinked several times as he tried to focus on her face.

"What were you thinking running off for _EIGHT_ damned _MONTHS _with barely a goodbye?" Megumi snarled.

"Hunting demons," Sano said weakly.

Megumi snorted and glared at him. "Apparently since you are in such bad shape."

"You should see the demons," Sano raised a hand to his head and flinched. "Pain killers please?"

"I should kill you," Megumi retorted but grabbed her medicine bag and dug about it until she pulled out the small bottle containing her pills. She dumped several into her hand and held them out to Sano who tossed them back and swallowed with a grimace.

"Tastes horrible."

"Poor baby," Megumi tsked. "Deal with it."

"Water?" He asked.

Kaoru got to her feet and came back with a canteen which she handed to him and he took a swig, grinning thankfully at her.

Megumi sighed again and tugged his gi off his shoulders and around his waist hissing at the mass of bruises across his chest and shoulders.

"Did the demon throw you into a mountain or something?"

"No... just a very large rock."

Megumi shook her head and grabbed her container of salve and began to spread over the bruises.

Sano yelped at her ministrations. "That stings!"

"Stop complaining," Megumi retorted.

"So did you miss me?"

"No," Megumi replied. "I had peace and quiet for eight months."

Sano winked at Kaoru over Megumi's shoulder.

"You never do well with peace and quiet Fox, you like action."

Megumi glared at him, "pity the demon didn't break your jaw."

"He tried," Sano said cheerfully and Megumi shook her head.

"Kaoru this is Sanosuke, Sanosuke this is Kaoru," Megumi introduced them.

"So you're Kaoru," Sano grinned. "Heard the news about Kenshin finally taking a wife."

Kaoru snorted. "Depends on your definition of 'take'."

Sano shook his head, "he's hard to get to know."

"Understatement of the century," Kaoru replied.

"Want me to knock some sense into him?" Sano offered.

"You will be knocking nothing into anyone until you are healed," Megumi said. "You're body is one big bruise. You have a concussion - which is probably why you are so lucid at the moment - and you have more sprains and pulled muscles than I can count. Rest and a lot of it for you."

"Confined to bed?" Sano asked.

"Yes. Without me."

Sano winced, "Fox...!"

"Eight months," Megumi snapped.

"I said goodbye," Sano muttered.

"In a hastily scrawled letter," Megumi's eyes glinted dangerously. " 'Dear Megumi, I'm off to hunt demons. See you soon…Sanosuke'."

Sano tried to make himself smaller. "Sorry?"

"Not good enough."

Sano was saved from replying when Kenshin suddenly entered the tent.

"Sano," he said softly.

"Hi, Kenshin." Sano scooted away from Megumi who had resumed glaring at him. "The Sekihoutai are back."

"Anything to report?" Kenshin inquired.

"The demons are definitely getting more numerous. They're massing near the north along the Hiten-Kasshin border."

Kaoru stiffened at the mention of her old home. "Are they going to attack?" She asked softly.

Sano shook his head, "doesn't appear so, at least for the moment. Where they are contains the deepest well of magic in the two countries. They're tapping into it and drawing strength from the looks of it."

Kenshin muttered a soft curse. "Things are moving faster than we expected."

"Yes," Sano's voice was serious, all humor gone.

"How are your men?"

"Tired... sore... hungry... raring to get back into action." Sano grinned.

Kenshin nodded, "good then. We move out in two days time."

"Where?" Kaoru asked softly.

Kenshin's eyes flickered over to her. "To Kasshin."

000

Kaoru sighed and wrapped her arms around Karuna's neck, pressing her face against the mare's cheek.

Kasshin.

Kenshin had made the announcement to the camp two hours before.

She was going back to Kasshin.

Nervousness formed a knot in her stomach.

It went without saying that her family would not welcome her back with open arms and glad faces.

She had been the sacrificial - the one least needed and the one everyone had wanted rid of.

And now she was returning to the place - to the people, that hated her...

When had she begun to think of Hiten as home?

The people there as friends and in some cases family?

Karuna nickered softly and she stroked the palomino's neck.

Two days time.

Two more days.

Then they would return to Kasshin.

Kaoru was not looking forward to it.

There was the soft pad of footsteps behind her and she turned to see Yahiko and Misao looking at her with worried eyes.

"You've been out here for hours," Misao said softly.

"I just need some time to think," Kaoru replied.

"You don't want to go back." Yahiko said.

"No... I don't," Kaoru sighed.

They knew her better than anyone. They had seen what had been inflicted upon her, known what had happened - the events that had forced her family to cast her away to Hiten under the guise of marriage to Kenshin. They didn't know all the details or hundred percent of the truth, but they knew that something had gone wrong and that if Kaoru had stayed much longer it would have been her death.

"It won't be the same as last time," Misao told her.

"I know that," Kaoru replied. "But will that be better or worse?"

Neither Yahiko or Misao had anything to say for that.

Kaoru gave Karuna one more hug and then stepped away from the mare.

"Let's have something to eat," Misao murmured. "You'll feel better on a full stomach."

Kaoru let them pull her away and back to the camp where Misao proceeded to shovel food onto her plate and watched carefully to make sure that she ate everything that she was given.

The camp was already a bustle of activity. Two days before leaving meant nothing – many things had to be accomplished before they left. Tents were still being dug out from under the freak snowfall and Kaoru saw that hers was still buried beneath it.

Kaoru helped clean up after the meal and put the dishes away. As soon as she was done she found herself being given more chores to do so that momentarily the thought of returning to Kasshin and the consequences of it, fled her mind.

000

Kenshin felt a flicker of something at the edge of his consciousness. Opening his eyes slightly he saw Shulya standing before him, her form shimmering around the edges but at the same time still solid.

"I'm not dreaming," he said.

Shulya shook her head, "stupid Kinglet. Just because it is easiest to appear in dreams does not limit me to them that it does not."

Kenshin grit his teeth silently at her nickname for him.

"You are making a mess of things that you are," Shulya said softly.

"I'm doing what needs to be done."

"The little one is still too hurt; bringing her to Kasshin so soon will set things into motion faster than you can anticipate."

"I have no choice." Kenshin replied.

Shulya nodded, her eyes shadowed. "For what you need resides there. Both of them reside there."

"Both?" Kenshin queried softly.

"Yes, both." Shulya told him. "Though you have one already in your possession even though you are blind to it." Her lips pulled together in a thin line. "I thought to make it easier for you… it is not easy to make a storm such as this. But you would not take the chance that was being offered." She tilted her head, birdlike at him. "What are you so afraid of Kinglet?"

"Don't call me that!"

Shulya nodded. "What is it that you fear then…Kenshin?"

Kenshin stared her at for several moments without speaking.

She sighed and shook her head. "So stubborn…" Her eyes suddenly took on a devious lit that Kenshin and for that matter, Kaoru had never seen before. "I could always make it so that you are snowed in… alone…with the little one…"

Kenshin closed his eyes and said a soft prayer.

Why was the dream-witch so intent on playing matchmaker?

"I don't want to hurt her," he gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Or do you not want to hurt yourself?" Shulya asked softly. "You still do not trust anyone but yourself."

"Do you blame me?" Kenshin replied.

"No," she closed her eyes. "You are right not to trust anyone after what has been done to you. But you are foolish not to trust someone who could help you. You are a good king. You love your people, you protect your people… you do what's right by your people and they love in you return." She smiled a bit sadly. "You do the best you can. I am proud of you for that."

Kenshin ducked his head, bangs falling over his eyes.

"But," Shulya said and he raised his eyes again. "You are not doing right by Kaoru. You took her from her home… you avoid and barely speak to her… you kept her in the dark for the reasons why." She shook her head. "And yet somehow affection even love for you has managed to grow in her."

Kenshin bit his lip, saying nothing.

"Talk to her Kinglet," Shulya murmured. "Get to know her. Allow her to know you. You will need one another when the time comes – and the bond you have will mean either victory or death."

She suddenly stepped toward him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look at her. A soft look fell across her face as she gazed at him. "You can do it little King."

She let go of him and then there was a gust of wind and she disappeared leaving Kenshin to stare at an empty space.

He sighed and raked his hand through his bangs, mulling over what she had just said.

000

The tent was empty when Kaoru went into it. Kenshin was probably off someplace brooding or plotting or doing whatever else he did when he disappeared for hours, she thought.

She was tired.

Errands and chores had kept her on her feet for hours and then Misao had decided that it would be a great time to practice swordplay.

The smaller girl seemed intent on keeping Kaoru so busy that she couldn't think.

So far it was working.

Kaoru lay down on the bed pallet with a sigh. Her feet ached, her arm ached, her wrist felt as weak as water and her head hurt from where she had been too slow to duck and had gotten whacked with Misao's wooden sword.

Everyone was too smart to give the girl a real sword – for that Kaoru was thankful though her head still rang faintly and there would probably be a bruise on her temple in the morning.

She was half-asleep when there was a rustle of cloth at the tent entrance. Opening her eyes slightly she saw Kenshin duck beneath the overhanging cloth and enter the tent.

"My tent's still under two feet of snow," Kaoru said softly, pushing herself into a sitting position and flinching at the stab of pain that went through her.

Kenshin nodded silently.

Kaoru sighed and tucked her bangs behind her ears as she stared at him.

Getting him to talk was like asking a stone to produce water.

"We leave for Kasshin the day after tomorrow?" Kaoru asked.

Kenshin nodded slightly, "yes."

Kaoru bit her lip. 'What do I say? Kenshin please leave me here – I can stay with Tomoe and Enishi. I am really NOT looking forward to having to see my not-so-dear relatives again.'

"What is in Kasshin that is so important?"

"The Sakabatou," Kenshin replied.

"Saka… what is that?" Kaoru blinked.

"A sword," Kenshin replied.

"Something tells me it's more than just a simple 'sword'." Kaoru retorted.

Kenshin nodded, "a very magical and powerful sword."

Okay… "And it's located in Kasshin because….?"

"Kasshin has forgotten it's magic. Where better to keep a magical weapon than in a place where no one knows what it can do or tamper with its wards? They regard it as just a simple very old sword. Nothing special or worthy of note."

He had a point, Kaoru sighed.

"So we have to go to Kasshin and grab the sword and that's it?" Kaoru asked.

"Yes," Kenshin nodded.

Sounded simple enough.

Kaoru still didn't like it. Pushing back her bangs she hissed softly as her wrist throbbed at the motion.

"What happened?" Kenshin asked, seeing the expression on her face.

"Misao was a little enthusiastic today with practicing swordplay," Kaoru muttered.

She blinked as she suddenly found her wrist being cradled gently in his hands.

"Slight sprain," Kenshin probed it gingerly.

He got to his feet and her eyes followed him as he grabbed a small bag and pulled out a small blue colored jar and roll of bandage and then sat down in front of her once more.

"Hold still," taking her wrist again in his hand, he unscrewed the jar lid with the other and spread bitter-smelling salve over it. Kaoru's wrist turned hot and then totally numb. Setting the jar down Kenshin ripped a piece of bandage into usable length and then wrapped it firmly around her wrist.

"Thanks," Kaoru blinked.

Kenshin nodded and pushed back the sleeve of her gi and rubbed some more of the salve into her arm and shoulder, which turned blissfully numb.

"Better?" He asked screwing the jar closed again and placing it back into the bag.

Kaoru nodded wordlessly, "…yes… thank you…" she said when she finally found her voice.

Kenshin nodded silently again and got up to put the bag back where he had found it.

Kaoru chewed her lip quietly as she watched him.

Okay… he was being friendly – sort of….

She blinked when she realized she had been staring at him and he had been watching her silently in return, an eyebrow raised in question as he waited for her to say something.

"Sorry," Kaoru blinked and shook her head.

Damn this was awkward and she hated it.

"Go to sleep Kaoru," Kenshin told her, getting to his feet.

"What about you?"

"I'm going for a walk. I will be back later."

She stared at his retreating back but somehow couldn't muster the energy to get up and go after him.

Sighing, she lay back down on the pallet and pulled the blankets under her chin and soon she was asleep.

000

The next day Kaoru woke up with only rumbled blankets beside to her to tell that Kenshin had ever been there.

After looking for him for a little while, she found him with Tomoe and Enishi.

Tomoe smiled slightly as Kaoru appeared her eyes warm, and patted the ground beside her, gesturing for Kaoru to sit.

"What's going on?" Kaoru asked, accepting a mug of coffee from Tomoe.

"We're plotting," Enishi replied tensely.

"Oh?" Kaoru looked at Kenshin. "About what?"

"There are not enough people in Hiten to amass into an army to fight the demons that are coming," Kenshin's voice was clipped.

Kaoru blinked, that didn't mean what she thought it meant did it?

"Kasshin?" She asked softly.

Kenshin nodded, "the magic that your people let dwindle must be awakened and renewed if we are to have a chance stop the demons. Kasshin's neglect of their magic was what helped the barriers between the demon world and ours collapse. Had it been tended to correctly, we would not be facing an army of demons. As it is, they outnumber us currently at the moment and we need to swell our ranks."

"Kasshin… is a peaceful country," Kaoru said. "We have an army true, but it is more for show – they are not trained in warfare or magic."

"Then that needs to change and quickly," Enishi said softly.

Tomoe nodded in agreement.

"What are we going to do? 'Hi, there is a demon army ready to take over the world – we need your help to defeat it'?" Kaoru said.

"Basically," Enishi grinned, unnerving her slightly.

She blinked as both Tomoe and Kenshin turned to look at her at once.

"Oh no… I know what you are thinking and it isn't going to work. I'm a half-blood remember? They are not going to follow me. Kasshin isn't Hiten where sword arm's strength means you rule – you rule by blood and rank. Whose blood is bluest and truest gets the crown." Kaoru made a face.

"That is something that can be changed," Tomoe said softly and Kaoru looked at her suspiciously. Either, she'd seen something or knew something Kaoru did not.

Possibly both.

Most likely both.

"Are you and Enishi coming along too?" Kaoru asked.

Tomoe nodded.

Kaoru blinked. That would be interesting… her relatives would take one look at Enishi and Tomoe (or Kenshin) and run screaming – hell, they'd run screaming from half of Kenshin's people.

What an interesting family reunion she was going to have.

Dear gods Kaoru what have you brought home for a family visit?

Suddenly she didn't feel half as bad about going back to Kasshin.


	17. Chapter 16

Yay you finally get KK action! Thank Ravyn – she was getting um… rather insistent that things between Kenshin and Kaoru start speeding up hehe.

Enjoy!

-Shiin

000

The next day dawned too early for Kaoru's liking.

Breakfast was a quick affair of bread baked the night before and lukewarm coffee. Even though everything was ready there was still much to be done – things had to be checked and re-checked and everything accounted for.

Kaoru got shooed out of the kitchens when she offered to help pack up the food and so she ended up being recruited to catch and saddle the horses.

Karuna ears perked up as Kaoru approached her, bridle slung over one arm and carrying the saddle in the other. Some of the mares excitement at being ridden dimmed after Kaoru tied her up next to the already saddle horses and she watched with what Kaoru thought was a bit of annoyance as Kaoru caught some more of the horses and saddled them up.

Packs were brought over and tied, saddle bags adjusted.

When Kaoru returned to the camp all of the tents had been dismantled despite the people milling around it looked as if there had never been a camp in the first place.

She didn't want to leave. She had grown used to the mountain. The way the air turned cold at night and mist covered the ground before the sun rose fully to burn it off… The multitude of stars that covered the sky…

She caught sight of Tomoe and hurried over to see if she needed anything.

Tomoe smiled when Kaoru approached.

"How are you?"

"I'm… ok I guess," Kaoru admitted.

"Aa," Tomoe nodded. "Kenshin is with Enishi. He sent the falcon out and found a quicker route to Kasshin from the mountain."

"Oh," Kaoru murmured. She would have loved if it would have taken a long, long time to get to Kasshin. "How long?"

"Three days."

Only three days and then she would be back where she had hoped never to return to.

"Is everything packed up?" Kaoru asked. "There's still plenty of room in my saddlebags if you want to bring anything."

Tomoe shook her head, "I'm fine thank you."

Kaoru nodded. "Ok then."

She turned away and tried to find something else to do to keep her busy.

And nearly ran right into Kenshin.

Kaoru flailed as she lost her balance and blinked when he grabbed her arm, helping steady her.

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

"We'll be leaving shortly," Kenshin informed her. "Is everything ready?"

"Yes," Kaoru nodded. "I'm ready to go." Well not really – another year would be very nice but I'm as a ready as I'm ever going to be.

Kenshin inclined his head. "You might want to ride Karuna a little bit before we leave. She's acting frisky."

"She's just impatient to get going," Kaoru told him. Unlike me….

"Aa," Kenshin murmured.

"Any chance you can't just drop me off somewhere and go to Kasshin without me?" Kaoru asked hopefully. "I can stay on the mountain… watch it… take care of it… something like that…"

"No," Kenshin almost looked apologetic. "You're needed."

It was on the tip of Kaoru's tongue to tell him that she was sick of being something of convenience. Ignore me when you don't want to have anything to do with me and then suddenly remember I'm there and I supposedly have some sort of destiny to fulfill that's tied with you. Nice way to treat a girl.

"The blue gi looks nice on you."

Kaoru blinked wondering if she'd actually heard right.

Before she could respond he was gone.

She blinked several more times after his retreating figure. 'Okay I've been wearing this particular gi the past couple of days since my clothes that were buried in the snow are frozen solid and he actually _notices_ it and then he pays me a compliment about it!'

She didn't know whether to cheer or hit him.

"…Right… ride Karuna… don't want to get bucked off halfway down the mountain…" Shaking her head she went to the picket line where the horses were tied.

Kaoru found the palomino mare standing next to Fiachra, Kenshin's big bay stallion and looking quite cozy.

'Spring… it's soon going to be spring right?' Kaoru asked herself. 'Maybe that's why Kenshin's acting… not like he usually does…'

The look Karuna gave her when she attempted to untie her and pull away from Fiachra had Kaoru shaking her head and putting her back next to the stallion. 'I'd rather not be riding a pissy mare.' Karuna was usually very sweet but Kaoru knew – and had seen – that several of the mares could be temperamental. She was just glad Karuna wasn't a chestnut.

Giving the mare a kiss on the muzzle she let them be.

It was about half an hour later that the call to mount and be moving went through the camp.

This time Karuna let herself be pulled away with no fuss. She knew that they were going to get moving and soon.

"Maybe I should have ridden you," Kaoru muttered as Karuna gave a little buck and pranced, head arched, head up and ears hard forward.

Suddenly she nickered and jumped forward and Kaoru found them riding next to Fiachra with Kenshin astride him.

"Stop acting silly," Kaoru admonished Karuna who couldn't seem to care less.

Out of the corner of her eye Kaoru caught sight of Sano's Sekihoutai with Megumi among them.

"Megumi decided it was better that she stay with Sano," Kenshin said.

"Keep him from killing himself?" Kaoru asked.

"Something like that." He replied.

Megumi looked happier and less annoyed with him anyway.

Sano waved at Kenshin and then he and the Sekihoutai reined their horses and took off in the opposite direction that their group was heading.

Ahead, Kaoru noticed Misao riding alongside Aoshi. Yahiko was centered among a group of kids his age that he had made friends with.

Which left her stuck with Kenshin.

"It's a nice day," oh please someone shoot her. You know there wasn't anything to talk about when you brought up the weather!

"Mmm," Kenshin murmured.

Kaoru twitched slightly. What to talk about?

"Let's play twenty questions."

Kenshin blinked, "what?"

"Twenty questions." Kaoru said sweetly. "I ask you a question. You ask me a question and so on and so forth." Last resort, ditch effort gah!

"Okay," his reply came readily enough and Kaoru felt a bit better.

"Let's start at the basics. What's your favorite color?"

"Blue."

Kaoru rolled her eyes, "what color blue – blue is a lot of colors."

"Indigo," he muttered.

Kaoru eyed him. "Violet."

Kenshin blinked.

"You're turn now – ask me a question."

"Favorite food?"

Let's stare at the bare bones basics shall we?

"Chocolate," Kaoru replied. "Yours?"

"Apple pie," Kenshin answered.

"Huh," Kaoru murmured. "Would have figured you to be a steak and potatoes guy… you have a sweet tooth."

Kenshin snorted. "Your turn."

They went back and forth for a while asking various questions. Kaoru did her best to stay away from ones that could be considered too personal or about his childhood ( she did ask him about pets and the fact that he had named his first warhorse – given to him at age 8 – a red roan gelding Lighting had her laughing – Kaoru hadn't really had a pet but had adopted one of the castle mousers a fat old calico and called her Precious) – partly because he would have shut up at that point and partly due to the fact she was reluctant to talk about her own.

The day passed quickly.

Almost too quickly.

It seemed the closer she got to Kasshin the faster the time flew.

Kaoru's legs ached as she dismounted and even Karuna looked tired. The mare wasn't unfit really, but after doing nothing but lazing around in the pasture for the past couple of weeks a hard day's ride she was tired.

Kaoru untacked her and gave her a thorough grooming which ended up with the palomino dozing and sighing in pleasure. Kaoru then turned her out in the makeshift corral and threw her flakes of hay. A water trough was being filled off in the corner.

Karuna taken care of, Kaoru went in search of her own dinner.

She found Misao and Yahiko seated around the fire eating bowls of stew. Kaoru's stomach woke up at once and complained that it was empty and she sat down beside them, sparing a brief second to thank one of the servers as she was handed a bowl before attacking it.

It had been cooked several days before and they had just reheated it. Even so the meat was still tender and the vegetables while soft were still flavorful. The bread she was given was hard but nothing a minute or two's soak in the broth didn't fix. It beat trail mix and jerky any day of the week.

"Where's Kenshin?" Misao asked as Kaoru finally slowed her eating.

"Probably doing a quick run through of the camp," Kaoru eyed the stew pot as she finished her own meal. "I better grab something for him or else when he finally does remember to eat it'll be gone."

Kaoru filled a bowl up and snatched a hunk of bread and went in search of him.

She found him after several minutes of searching at the back of the camp helping set up one of the tents.

The quick thought that bringing him food was a very wifely thing to do fluttered through her mind and she quashed it. True they were married… or whatever it was that you wanted to call it… but they didn't have a husband-wife relationship.

She didn't even know what kind of relationship they had.

But even she could see he was trying.

So she could at least try as well.

"Dinner?" She held the stew and bread toward him. "Don't worry I didn't cook it."

Kenshin nodded and they found a nearby rock to sit down.

"How much longer until we reach Kasshin?" Kaoru asked as he ate.

"We should arrive around midday tomorrow," Kenshin answered.

"I thought it'd take three days!" Kaoru's eyes widened.

"We're making better time than we thought we were." Kenshin's eyes narrowed slightly. "Than we should be making."

Kaoru felt her stomach clench.

Something was pulling them toward Kasshin.

Altering… twisting… changing…

The urge to suddenly turn around and flee in the direction of Tomoe and Enishi's mountain filled her.

"So tomorrow," Kaoru murmured softly.

"Yes," Kenshin's eyes flickered toward her and she bit her lip.

"Done?" Kaoru took the now empty bowl of stew from Kenshin and fled.

The next day dawned too early for Kaoru's liking.

Everything indeed felt as it had sped up. Become rushed.

To what end she didn't know.

She didn't like it.

Karuna was tense underneath her and Kaoru stroked her neck trying to calm herself as well as reassure the mare.

The scenery around them changed as they left Hiten and crossed the boarder into Kasshin. The red dirt of the earth turned wetter and blacker. The trees changed – the colors of their leaves were bright. Soon they would fall and snow would cover everything.

It was fall Kaoru realized, late fall – almost winter. She had arrived in Hiten in mid-spring.

The castle… her family were only a few hours away.

Karuna nickered softly and Kaoru tensed as she heard hoof beats and then Kenshin on Fiachra pulled up beside her.

She bit her lip and refused to look at him.

Everyone else was looking at her and she groaned silently.

'If anyone talks to me or touches or says anything to me I'm going to scream or hit something or both.'

"Kaoru?"

Kaoru screwed her eyes shut. "Don't… just leave me…"

"What's wrong?" Kenshin asked.

"Nothing." Everything. "I don't want to talk about it."

Kaoru hadn't realized her hands were tightening on the reins until Karuna began shaking her head in protest. Sighing she loosened her grip and the mare yanked her head down, mouthing at the bit.

Kenshin's mouth opened but at that moment a shout cut through the air up ahead.

"Riders," he muttered and pulled Fiachra away and kicked him into a canter to go to the head of the line.

Kaoru sighed as Karuna decided to follow Fiachra.

Everyone had come to a stop. Facing them was a semi-circle of five riders. After so long being in Hiten where the clothes though very nice were functional, the gaudy colors of the Kasshin made Kaoru's eyes hurt. The uniform was purple velvet (in this heat?) with a magenta sash, gold buttons tied a double-breasted coat together and the breeches were snow white, the boots polished to a high gleam. The swords at their sides were ornamental and looked flimsy.

Kaoru looked down at her own slightly-travel stained tunic and breeches and sighed. She felt very much so like the country bumpkin coming to the city to meet her relatives.

Still the others were staring at the Kasshin riders with a mixture of disbelief and hilarity on their faces. Clothes like that were not meant for riding and they looked indeed as if they had never been ridden in. The swords probably couldn't cut a stick of butter in half and Kaoru had a feeling that if her own group wasn't so well armed it would have been an insult.

Had they been attacked and not able to defend themselves – leaving it to the Kasshin riders – they would have been slaughtered.

Insult indeed.

"We are here to escort you to the castle." The one with the most gold and… tassels said.

It took Kaoru a moment to realize they were speaking in the Kasshin language and not Hiten, which she had become so accustomed to, that she hadn't even realized she had been speaking.

Even her thoughts seemed to have had switched languages.

To her ears now the vowels seemed clipped and hard and lacked the fluid musicality of the Hiten tongue.

Kaoru wanted so to be back in Hiten – in the gardens of the Castle or the breve-saol's mountain.

Remembering them she turned and found Enishi and Tomoe behind her. Enishi's eyes were glittering and Tomoe's eyes flashed darkly.

They looked ready and willing to give her relatives hell, anticipating the moment that they would meet them, and Kaoru wanted to hug them for it.

"So little one," Tomoe urged her mare alongside Kaoru. "How are you feeling now?"

"Better," Kaoru attempted a smile. "Can you do something… make them run into a tree branch for instance?"

"No," Tomoe's lips twitched. "But if anyone is afraid of mice I may able to work with that."

The image of one of her particularly nasty relatives (who also happened to be deathly afraid of mice) atop a chair and screaming as mice swarmed around it nearly made Kaoru grin and she felt better.

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," she flashed Tomoe a grateful smile and clucked at Karuna to trot faster until they came alongside Kenshin.

The escort riders didn't seem to recognize her and Kaoru felt some of the tenseness fade.

Still it felt far too soon when they arrived at Sheval, the Capital city of Kasshin.

The streets were crowded with people. They gawked openly and the sudden narrowing of the streets forced them to pack tightly against one another and didn't allow Kaoru to vanish into the center. She was trapped at Kenshin's side as they found themselves paraded through the street.

Karuna's ears were flat against her head and she was tossing her head, wanting to kick and disliking being so packed together.

They rounded a corner and Kaoru felt her stomach drop to her toes.

The entire family had turned out to see them.

She must have made some sort of sound because Kenshin head snapped toward her, eyes narrowing into slits as he looked at her.

"Kaoru?" He murmured his voice low.

Kaoru's face had turned white and her eyes looked far too big in her face. Ever so slightly he could see her shaking. Karuna head-tossing turned violent as her hands on the reins turned white knuckled.

"Kaoru!" He snapped.

She jerked blinking furiously. Her hands loosened on the reins and she murmured a soft apology to Karuna.

She jerked again as one of the women in the group, the eldest – her hair snow white though still thick and coiled elaborately around her head and threaded with jewels. Her gown was a dark cobalt blue with silver and gold stitching. Eyes the color of her dress narrowed and her mouth pulled into a frown as she took in Kaoru.

"So…" Contempt dripped from that one word. "You've come back to us have you?"

Kenshin felt a snarl build in his throat as Kaoru seemed to shrink into herself.

"Y-yes," the Kasshin word was uttered so softly he barely heard it but it was the expression on her face that worried him the most.

Fear.

Stark blatant fear.

He felt fury build inside of him at the smirk on the old bitch's mouth.

What had they done to Kaoru to make her react this way?

"We will be waiting for you once you are cleaned up." She gave Kenshin a civil nod and then turned away.

Beside him Kaoru let out a low shuddering breath, the color starting to return to her face. She dismounted from Karuna and leaned against her, burying her face in the mare's neck and refusing to look at any of them.

"Kaoru?" Kenshin tried again.

She flinched. "Don't…" her voice sounded broken. "Just don't."

Still not looking at any of them she wrapped her hand around Karuna's reins and started to lead her away. "I know where the stables are. I will see you in a bit."

Once they were out of sight Kaoru allowed herself to cry. The tears were hot and burning as they slipped from the corners of her eyes and down her face.

She thought it would be different…

But no… it was the same…

She was still the half-blood bastard child in a family that loved to inflict pain.

000

"What are you waiting for!" Misao's voice cut through his thoughts.

Kenshin jerked his gaze to her. The smaller girl was rigid her green eyes blazing.

"Get off your blasted horse and go after her." Misao snarled. "…Kaoru can't be alone…" her voice lowered. "…they – they delight in doing things to her…" The fire in her eyes dimmed and shuttered.

Kenshin nodded curtly. "Stables?"

"That way," Misao pointed.

"You will tell me everything." Kenshin said in a voice that booked no argument.

Misao shook her head slowly. "I… can't. Kaoru should be the one to tell you…" She bit her lip. "I'm sorry."

Kenshin dismounted and tossed the reins to Aoshi, and then he took off in the direction Misao had pointed out.

The stables took longer than they should have to find.

How many gardens and courtyards did the damn castle have to have?

Kenshin fought the urge to start knocking down walls.

Finally he found them.

He had to give the Kasshin credit. Even though they're horses were mainly used for show and parades and not war they were well taken care of. He estimated the stalls were at least twenty by thirty and each lead out into a private five acre paddock.

He rounded a corner just as a scream tore through the air.

When a snarl of fury he recognized Kaoru's voice.

000

Kaoru knew the stables well. They had been one of the few places she had been able to escape to when she needed to hide or just have a moment to herself. She had never been taught to ride until she had been sent to Hiten, but there had been an old broodmare who'd had at least eighteen foals and who had spent the rest of her life in happy retirement. Kaoru had loved to curl up in one of the corners with the mare standing over her and snuffling at her hair and occasionally lipping at it.

Kaoru had felt content, soothed, protected.

So when she fled with Karuna it was only natural she headed toward the stables.

She quickly untacked the mare and put her in one of the stalls, opening the back gate that led into the private paddock. Karuna had immediately found a far corner of the paddock and rolled.

The mare taken care of, Kaoru had slipped out of the stall.

The next thing she knew she was flung against one of the stall walls, her head connecting painfully with the solid wood.

"Isao," Kaoru yelped as her vision cleared and one of her own personal nightmares was standing over her, a decidedly ugly expression on his face.

Kaoru had learned how to fight, to defend herself while living in Hiten.

Why was it now that when she needed the skills the most she couldn't remember any of them?

She shrieked softly as he grabbed strands of her hair and hauled her to her feet.

"I've missed you darling."

"I haven't missed you." Kaoru regretted the words as soon as she said them. His fist connected solidly with her cheek.

"Have you been having a good time with that bastard?" Isao's voice dropped to a hissing whisper. "What is so special about you that he would threaten war?"

Kaoru wanted to point out that Kenshin hadn't known it would be her that they would be sending – or more precisely they hadn't known that she was the one that was wanted. She had been the most convenient one for them to send.

"What is so special about you?" Isao repeated again. "You're a worthless half-blood."

"D-don't know," Kaoru stuttered feeling twelve years old again. Everything had started when she had turned twelve. They… they had started watching her, looking at her with eyes that made her feel dirty… Eyes that promised things she didn't want to know about…

"Stop!" She shrieked as she felt his hand touch her knee and slid upward.

"Why?" Isao laughed darkly. "I want to know exactly what's so special about you. Does he make you scream?"

Kaoru's stomach twisted at his words. She could feel something writhing at the back of her mind, turning dark and angry. She knew that feeling. She knew what had happened before…

"Stop!" She tried again. It was warping inside of her, turning vicious and angry wanting to hurt who was hurting her. Goosebumps broke out over her flesh and she turned cold. "Please stop…" she begged.

Isao laughed again and yanked on her hair, pressing his mouth to hers.

At the touch of his lips against hers something inside of her snapped. The thing that had been clamoring to attack him for hurting her broke free.

Someone was screaming.

Isao.

Her.

Brilliantly colored lights burst in front of her eyes and there was a ringing in her ears. A harsh wind whipped around her and the strands of her hair blinded her for a moment. There was a ripping and tearing sound as whatever it was that her body was containing, broke free. Her clothing hung in tatters around her.

Kaoru's body itself felt like ice was spreading from the center of her chest to the very tips of her fingers and toes. Tears were falling down her face a hot contrast to the ice that covered her. Her body sparked in pain in then turned numb. Blissfully numb.

Her screams continued to rise in pitch until it was all that she could hear.

The power she had unleashed lashed around her but didn't attack anything.

For that she was grateful.

000

Kenshin raced around the corner and then skidded to a stop, nearly running into a wall of wild seething magic. The air faintly smelled metallic and as it washed over him he heard a faint sizzle and pop of magic.

He ignored it – eyes locked in the physical tornado of power that spun in the center of the aisle. Colors raced along its edges in a seething flicker of rainbows, gold, and silver, purple, red. Blue dominant above all.

Tossed against a wall in the manner one would fling a rag doll was a burnt out husk of what could have once been considered human.

In the center – the eye of storm – stood a screaming Kaoru.


	18. Chapter 18

As he stepped toward her the magic turned solid and formed a wall, which he found himself running smack dab into.

He snarled and threw a bit of his own in an attempt to break through. It simply absorbed it. Then the colors twisted and flashed and the magic struck back at him. Kenshin formed a shield and deflected it… barely.

At the back of his mind he wondered just how strong she would be when… if… she ever learned to control her power. Running wild and raging as it was now, it was formidable enough… gods help them if she ever mastered it and turned it against them…

Ending up as Isao had would be nothing compared to what she could do if she chose to.

'Let me in,' he snarled at it. 'Let me get to her!'

The magic spilling from her body and cutting the air around them would slowly rip her apart if it wasn't stopped.

It seethed at him as he pressed against it, determined to get through.

'I'm not going to hurt her!' He snapped.

It lashed at him and he hissed as it split into tendrils striking at him and forcing him to blur and dodge and call up some of his own to blur and dodge and keep just a step ahead of it.

'I'm trying to help her!' He yelled at it.

Damned possessive protective magic!

Growling he stopped dodging and it struck hit, rocking him back on his heels with the force of the blow. It poured into him, racing through him and filled his head with a dull buzzing roar. It swept over him flooding every bit of his being searching for darkness and bad intentions.

Kenshin wanted to yank his shields up but kept them down by sheer force of will.

'Not going to hurt her,' he repeated lowering his voice to a gentle croon. 'Not going to hurt you. Help only. Help you. Help both of you.'

It flickered through his mind and he shuddered lightly doing his best to keep his thoughts quiet and gentle, calm.

His own magic glided under his skin reaching out tentatively to touch hers. As the two met he felt his knees weaken. They clashed against one another momentarily and then meshed completely.

An image of gold-edge violet and blue threads entwined flashed before his eyes and then faded.

The buzzing roar turned into a low contented purr and then he felt it pull back and out of him. For a moment coldness flooded him at its loss and then his own magic surged within him once more and warmth returned.

He opened eyes he didn't remember closing and heard the dull throb of magic in the air. It had calmed down and was no longer lashing around. Holding his breath he took a step forward and felt it assent, deciding to allow him near to Kaoru.

Kaoru lay crumpled on the floor. A broken ribbon lay a few feet away from her and her unbound hair curled around her too-pale face like a halo of ink. Her eyes were closed, the circles around them the color of old bruises. Her body was shaking and she was whimpering silently.

"Kaoru," Kenshin dropped to his knees next to her and gently touched an exposed shoulder. The coldness of her skin numbed his fingertips and he hissed.

There was a twisting, sucking feeling and everything around him spun.

When the world righted itself he found himself in Shulya's domain.

Kaoru was curled in a ball, her face buried in Shulya's lap. Threads were the only thing covering her, wrapped around her body tightly. Blue, violet-gold, silver, black… too much black…

Through the snatches of skin that he could see, he caught sight of scars marring her back and shoulders, her arms and legs were crisscrossed with them. Some of them were faded to a pale silvery color; others were the light-pink of newly healed flesh. Still others were scabbed – just beginning to heal. A large gash ran the length of her back from shoulder nearly to hip. It was bleeding heavily, staining the threads wrapped around her.

Something hot dripped down the side of his face and he raised a fingertip and it came away bloody. His scars had opened and were bleeding.

Shulya looked up her multi-faceted eyes flashing. "Your fault," her voice had lowered into a sibilant-hiss. "You were so intent on protecting her from you and your pain that you never thought about her own. You forgot to protect her from everyone else... and herself…"

Kenshin flinched, "I…"

"Was a stupid fool," Shulya snapped. "She could have handled it. It would have been painful, but she could have handled it. Now…" She gently stroked Kaoru's dark head and Kaoru cried out.

One of the scabbed cuts across her ribs broke open and started to bleed.

"Too soon you brought her back," Shulya's eyes had turned the color of storm clouds. "With barely a bond formed – a fledgling thing that might be dead now that it might."

"What can I do?" Kenshin asked softly.

"More than what you already have done – which is next to nothing." Shulya snarled.

Kenshin snarled and then blinked as Shulya's lips twitched into a smile.

"You are learning… that is half the battle."

Kenshin blinked again and she shook her head.

"Get over here you idiot."

Kenshin found himself yanked to her side before he could even think to move.

Shulya's arm lashed out and he yelped as he was pulled down beside her by the end of his ponytail.

"Hold her," she instructed. Murmuring softly to Kaoru she hefted her gently into Kenshin's arms.

Kaoru whimpered and more of the scabs on her body tore open and bled.

"Talk to her," Shulya ordered him. "Let her know that she is not alone – for once in her life," she added in a soft whisper.

Kenshin bit his lip. "Kaoru…?" He murmured softly.

Shulya snorted in disgust. "That is NOT talking to her!"

Kenshin snarled at her and she fought back a smile.

"Kaoru," Kenshin murmured lowly. "Little one?" He stroked a hand down her back mindful of her cuts and scars. Several threads unwound from her back and attached themselves to his wrist.

Kenshin looked up briefly at Shulya who nodded.

Kenshin closed his eyes and unearthed a faint lullaby that his mother had sung to him before her death. He continued to stroke her back gently. More of the threads loosened from Kaoru and attached themselves to him, twining up his wrists and forearms. Every so slowly the torn flesh of her back and sides began to come together and knit, leaving paler scars which faded until they were almost indistinguishable from the rest of her skin.

Her shaking quieted and she let out a long shuddering breath and then was still.

"Good," a genuine smile spread across Shulya's face. "Now leave. Her physical body needs tending as well."

And like that Kenshin found himself thrust out of Shulya's realm.

Kaoru was still unconscious when he opened his eyes.

Gently he picked her up. She was boneless in his arms, head lolling against his shoulder. Her breathing while faint was steady and a touch of color had returned to her face, but the dark circles were still extremely evident.

Cradling her gently Kenshin carried her out of the stables with an expression on his face that promised death to anyone so foolish to step in his path.

000

Silence met their appearance.

Kenshin didn't look at any of Kaoru's so called family. He knew that if he as much as turned his head in their direction someone was going to be missing limbs.

Aoshi stepped to his side, flanking him. The man's face had tightened as he looked at Kaoru. Behind him the others fell into formation. Kenshin could hear faintly the soft hum of magic as they called it to them.

"Rooms?" Kenshin asked tensely.

Aoshi nodded. "Misao?" He murmured.

The girl's face was pale but she gave a jerky nod. "I'll show you where the… guest bedrooms are." She dashed ahead and they followed.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kaoru's family had bunched together their faces white and fearful. Almost as frightened as the look that had been on Kaoru's face when she had first seen them.

Good, he wanted them afraid.

He wanted them to hurt for hurting her.

But that was later; he had to tend to her first.

Misao opened the door to the rooms that had been designated for Kenshin… and opened the blinds, to allow as much light as possible.

Kenshin carried Kaoru to the bed and set her down as gently as he could. Her skin seemed to pale as his touch was removed from it and when he laid a hand against her shoulder he found that it had once more turned to ice. Her breathing had quickened and seemed to rattle in her chest.

He desperately wished for Megumi.

"Kenshin?" Aoshi prodded softly.

"If any of her… if any of them come near the door kill them." He couldn't bring himself to say her family. They weren't.

Aoshi nodded and left.

"Anything I can do?" Misao asked her eyes huge in her face.

"Bring tea," Kenshin said. "And then stay with the others."

Misao gulped and darted away.

Snarling softly Kenshin grabbed a blanket and wrapped it snugly around her. He then pulled the coverlet over, tucking it under her chin. She still felt cold. Too cold. He could sense her power coursing just underneath her skin and hissed.

Why was her body rejecting it?

True magic in the countries had faded in the past couple of centuries or so. In Kenshin's great-grandfather's time it had still been in everyday use. In Kasshin however it had been already thought to be long gone. Now, in Hiten magic was only used when necessary. For fighting or healing. Some old magics still remained – evident in how the water in his castle was always kept warm, the lights never needed to be fixed or changed.

But they had fallen a long way from the time when you could use magic to bake bread with just a thought.

And even with their careful conservation of it, it felt like it was fading further.

Kasshin had made magic into a myth. Creatures like Tomoe and Enishi – the breve-saol were figments of imagination and legend.

As far as he had known, had thought – magic no longer existed in that country.

Had suspected that Kaoru had magic in her it would have been different – he would have tried to help her learn to use it.

Shulya was right – he had been an idiot, too wrapped up in his own past and problems to think beyond them.

But it still didn't explain Kaoru's power.

Magic had faded and disappeared in Kasshin. But Kaoru's magic was strong – far stronger than it should have been. It was almost as if all the magic that had left Kasshin had come together and decided to inhabit one person.

Kaoru.

And by the way it had reacted; it had been kept under restraints and chains, just needing a trigger to set it off.

Kenshin's lips thinned remembering the body near Kaoru.

Something told him it wasn't the first time such an incident had happened and if Kaoru's reactions to her so-called family were any indication he was correct.

She must have been unconsciously repressing it and it had built up under the bindings she had unwittingly placed on it until it had no choice but to explode and attack whatever it felt was attempting to hurt her.

Kenshin felt an ache build between his eyes. He had too many questions to ask her, too many things he needed to know to put the pieces of this puzzle together.

He placed his hand against the side of her face, cupping it and felt her magic spark underneath her skin. It was loose now; she couldn't push it back even if she tried to.

Gently he allowed a tendril of his own magic to escape. Warmth flooded him as it came into contact with hers, twining and wrapping around his so tightly he could barely distinguish where hers began and his ended. Kaoru's skin flushed, turning pinker and healthier.

Crooning softly to her shucked off his shirt, and slid under the covers and pulled her against him. Warmth spread, racing along each nerve-ending wherever his skin came into contact with Kaoru's. Her breathing gentled and became rhythmic and steady.

Kenshin had the faintest sensation of threads tightening and snapping into place.

There was a knock on the door and he opened an eye as Misao entered carrying a cup of tea in her hand. She blinked at him and bit her lip, setting the cup down on the nearby stand and then backed away and left silently.

Closing his eyes he concentrated on his magic. It meshed and melded with hers and he could see in his mind, an image of a web of threads covering the two of them. Some of the black had receded and turned blue, still more was blue-edged black. The violet-gold he'd identified as his own was completely ensnared by the blue of Kaoru's.

Whether he liked it or not they would be bound together. To leave her now would mean cutting threads that belonged not only to her, but to him as well.

'You're learning,' Shulya's voice whispered through his mind. 'Now use it. Call her back.'

'Kaoru?' Kenshin gently reached out with his magic and plucked at one of the blue threads.

A shudder went through Kaoru and she gasped softly. He felt her tensing, trying to pull away.

'No,' Kenshin said firmly. He grasped the thread tightly and began to tug at it gently.

A wave of fear hit him mixed with denial.

Kaoru.

'Kaoru…' He tried again, his voice as soft as he could make it. 'Come back.'

'No!' Her voice was a sob. 'It hurts!'

'I know it does,' Kenshin murmured. 'You can't run away.'

'Yes I can!' The blue thread in his hands snapped.

'Kaoru!' Kenshin yelled.

'Go away!' Several of the blue threads darkened and started turning black.

'I'm not going anywhere.' Kenshin said firmly.

'Then I'll leave,' The black began to spread, racing along the threads and he snarled.

'Coward,' he hissed.

'Only as much as you,' came her reply.

'I'm not running away anymore.' He told her. 'And I won't let you run either.'

'I'm not running.' She retorted.

'Yes you are.'

'No I'm not!' Several of the black threads dissolved into dust.

He was losing her.

'What are you afraid of?' His voice became the gentle croon he had used before.

'I'm not afraid of anything!'

'Yes you are.' He told her. 'You're afraid of your family.'

'They are not my family.'

'No they are not,' he agreed.

'Hurts,' she whimpered.

'I won't let you be hurt again.' Kenshin promised.

'You can't protect me.' She said softly.

'You never gave me the chance to try.' He replied.

The sensation of tears falling was her only reply.

'Kaoru…' Kenshin touched one of the threads and felt a spark of hope when it didn't snap in his hands. The black seemed to have halted for the moment but was hovering dangerously close.

'Come,' he coaxed. 'Come back with me.'

'Hurts,' she cried again.

Almost there. Teasing at the corners of his eyes was a bright spark – a glowing humanoid form, blue-edged with gold.

Kaoru.

'It will always hurt if you never give it the chance to heal,' Kenshin said quietly.

There was the tentative feeling of assent.

'Come,' he repeated.

As he neared the glowing thing that was Kaoru – some of the glow started to fade away. Kaoru stood in front of him, the threads were wrapped tightly around her in alternating strands of blue and gold and silver. The majority of the scars on her body seemed to have healed. Her blue eyes were wide, tears shining in them. As he watched they began to fall.

Silently he held out a hand toward her.

Tentatively Kaoru reached toward him. Her hand hovered in a brief moment of indecision over his palm and then she placed her hand in his.

Everything dissolved into white-light and Kenshin found himself jolted awake.

Kaoru stirred against him blinking, the look in her eyes distant.

Suddenly her body went rigid and she began to flail.

"No!" She screamed.

"Kaoru!" Kenshin caught her flailing hands and she shrieked.

Her magic responded to her agitation by writhing and twisting and he did his best to keep himself calm.

"It's me," he said softly. "It's me." He repeated. "Kenshin."

Kaoru blinked and he saw her glazed blue eyes finally start to focus. "Ken…shin…?"

"Yes," he brought one of her hands to his mouth and kissed it gently.

"What…happened…?" Her eyes suddenly widened and she sobbed. "Youji…"

"He's dead," Kenshin murmured consolingly.

Her body tightened further instead of relaxing. "I killed him," her voice was a hushed whisper.

"You were protecting yourself," Kenshin said. "It was self-defense."

"He…" Kaoru shuddered. "I didn't mean to…"

Kenshin was wishing right now that she had left Youji alive. He wouldn't have lasted long once Kenshin got to him. Starting at the toes and working his way up to his neck breaking every bone between sounded like a good plan. It made it all the easier to then chop him into little pieces.

There were still several members of her so-called family left alive…

Good, Kenshin was feeling like hurting something.

"Kenshin?" Kaoru's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Yes?" She was staring at him with wide blue eyes.

"You're growling…"

"Just planning the deaths of several members of the Kasshin royal family," Kenshin told her.

She flinched.

"They hurt you." Kenshin said softly.

"Yes," she screwed her eyes tightly shut.

"They won't lay a finger on you ever again – nor so much as think of hurting you," Not unless they want to be force fed several choice body parts.

"Here," he reached over and picked up the cup of tea from where Misao had left it on the bedside table. It had cooled off somewhat but she needed something in her.

Kaoru's hands automatically wrapped around it and he blinked as there was a brief spark of magic and steam began to waft upwards from the surface of the tea.

Kaoru's eyes widened and she stared at the tea and then looked up at Kenshin.

"What is going on?" She asked softly.

"Your magic is awake," Kenshin replied.

She shook her head, "I don't have any magic."

Kenshin raised an eyebrow and she ducked her head, bringing the cup of tea to her mouth, eyes lowered.

"I don't have any magic," she insisted.

"Yes, you do." Kenshin told her.

She shook her head, "I don't. Whatever… this is. It's not magic. Magic doesn't hurt people. I don't hurt people…"

Kenshin blinked wondering exactly what kind of sanitized fairy tales she had grown up on.

"There are different kinds of magics," he said softly. "Healing magics – Megumi has that kind. House magics –" Kaoru muttered something about her pretty sure she didn't have that kind of magic. "- and battle magics. Defensive and offensive magics."

Kaoru's magic looked to be very, very defensive.

"It doesn't feel like magic." She said stubbornly. "It can't be magic."

"Oh really?" Kenshin's eyebrow rose and she glared at him. "What is magic supposed to be like then?"

"Chants?" Kaoru suggested. "Spell books?" She shook her head. "Not this… thing inside of me."

"What does it feel like?" Kenshin asked.

"Cold," Kaoru shuddered. "Angry… not me..."

"You wouldn't protect the thing most precious to you?" Kenshin asked.

Kaoru blinked at him, "I… yes of course I would." Her eyes narrowed. "That's a stupid question."

"That what it believes it is doing." Kenshin said.

Kaoru closed her eyes, "you're making it sound almost sentient."

"In your case it probably is."

She gaped at him.

Kenshin let a tendril of his own magic escape and brush against hers. It wrapped around his and he heard its soft rumbling purr. There was a sensation like thick velvet rubbing against him and closed his eyes as his magic responded – something smoother and sleeker satin-skinned, twining with Kaoru's.

Kaoru's eyes widened and she rubbed at her arms. "That's…?"

"That's your magic."

Kaoru blinked at him. "My magic has a physical form?"

"There are legends that it used to able to take actual forms on its own." Kenshin murmured.

Kaoru whimpered softly. "I'm getting a headache."

"Drink your tea," Kenshin said gently. Impulsively he brushed a kiss across her forehead. The wide-eyed look of surprise that she gave him was almost comical.

"I'll be back soon," he picked up his shirt that he had left on the floor and handed it to her. Kaoru took it automatically, eyes still wide and set the cup of tea on the bedside table. She pulled it over her head and then grabbed the tea cup, clutching it and burrowing back under the covers.

Kenshin closed the door silently.

And came face to a face with a so-tense-she-was-practically-vibrating Misao.

"How is she?" Misao's voice was low but her eyes were worried. Sitting in one of the couches that edged the room was an equally concerned looking Yahiko. Aoshi leaned against the opposite wall.

"Better," Kenshin said softly, feeling some weight leave his shoulders as he said it. "Aoshi?"

"No one has come near here," Aoshi replied.

"Good," Kenshin murmured.

Misao sighed in relief. "Does she need anything? Can I see her?"

"Let her rest." Kenshin said.

Misao's eyes flashed but she nodded grudgingly.

"Where are Enishi and Tomoe?" Kenshin directed is question to Aoshi.

"They should be returning in a moment with food."

Well there was no chance that the Kasshin Royal family would attempt poisoning with the breve-saol watching.

That reminded him….

"Aoshi?"

"Yes," Aoshi looked at him.

"Have there been any odd deaths in the family in the past year or so?"

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Misao pale and Yahiko tense.

"I could find out." Aoshi said.

Misao shook her head, "please…. Don't."

"I want to know if what happened today – has happened before." Kenshin said.

"It has," Misao's voice was so low he barely heard it. "Why do you think Kaoru got sent to Hiten and us with her?"

Kenshin glared at her and she did her best not to flinch.

"It's Kaoru's story. She should be the one telling it." Misao murmured.

"Tell me."

Misao bit her lip and played with the end of her braid, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Kaoru… she was the result of a one-night stand between her mother and one of the princes of the family. All we know is that he died before she was born. Her mother died during childbirth." She untied her hair and started unraveling the braid and then rebraiding it, unwilling to meet his eyes. "If her mother had survived she might have had a better life."

Kenshin was growling almost without even noticing it.

"The other servants hated her. She was half-royal – and that was good enough for them. They took out whatever pains they had with the family on her." She closed her eyes tightly. "Her family hated her also – she was an easy target I guess. If she wasn't running from the servants she was hiding from her family. Kaoru could have left the castle at sixteen. But she didn't. Because of us."

"She took us under her wing, you could say when our parents died. My parents were guards and Yahiko's were lower-class nobility – we ended up servants because of debts and no family to take care of us. Kaoru adopted us in a way. She was the one who'd step in whenever we did something wrong." Yahiko was looking at the floor and scowling.

Misao continued, "Kaoru turned sixteen but she wouldn't leave us. She said she was waiting until Yahiko was old enough to leave and then she would leave. When I turned sixteen she said I could go – but I couldn't leave her at the castle." Misao shook her head.

"Just before your… demand for a Kasshin royal arrived…. Something happened." Misao bit her lip. "It involved Kaoru and someone died and that is all I know."

Kenshin had a very good idea of what sort of involvement the incident had been.

At least whoever had attempted to hurt Kaoru was dead.

One less person for him to kill.

At that moment Enishi and Tomoe returned with food.

Enishi's face was pulled into a scowl. "Caught one of the kitchen maids putting very subtle, nasty poison in the meat… if anyone suddenly wonders why a lot of rats in the castle start turning up dead…"

Kenshin's eyes narrowed.

How idiotic was her family exactly?

Ok so maybe his list of 'people to kill' wasn't as short as he had thought.

"Thank you," he took the bowl of soup and plate of bread and cheese out of Enishi's hands with a nod.

Misao stared at Kenshin's retreating back and watched as he slipped back into the bedroom, shaking her head slightly. "Did you see the look in his eyes?" She murmured. Someone was home and with a vengeance.

"And we take one step further in the direction of destiny," Tomoe murmured softly.

A grin suddenly split Misao's face. "Sano owes me money!"

"Sano?" Aoshi questioned.

"Mmm… he bet me that it would be six more months before Kenshin finally took notice of Kaoru. I said otherwise. I get money. Next time I see him, Rooster-boy is paying up." Her grin was evil.

Suddenly Kenshin didn't seem all that terrifying.

000

Kaoru raised her head as Kenshin entered.

"Food?" She asked softly.

Kenshin nodded.

Kaoru pushed herself into a sitting position and Kenshin placed the bowl and plate of bread in her lap and sat down next to her cross-legged.

Kaoru eyed him briefly and then picked up the piece of bread, dipped it in the soup and took a bite. Her stomach grumbled and she was surprised at how hungry she suddenly was.

She could feel Kenshin's eyes on her as she ate and while it was it was slightly unnerving, the part that she had identified as her magic was running just under her skin humming at his nearness.

She didn't know what scared her the most.

Kenshin who (judging by his previous actions toward her) had expressed no interest in her, and who had suddenly done a total one eighty… or the fact her magic that she had struggled so hard to keep locked away and under wraps was now out in the open.

And acting quite happy to be out and about.

'And seems to like him A LOT,' Kaoru grumbled remembering the touch of his own magic against hers. It had felt… right…. How it was supposed to be…

And had all happened so fast that her head was still spinning.

She finished her soup and set it down on the bedside table. Now that she was full she felt drowsy. Her body was still battered but some of the soreness seemed to have faded. At the back of her mind she was quite aware of her magic humming, a constant buzz that was almost soothing.

Her eyes started to lower and pulled the blankets over her shoulders, snuggling into the pillows.

"Tired?" Kenshin asked softly.

"Mmm," Kaoru replied.

Her eyes opened suddenly as she felt him brush against her and the sensation of his magic danced across her skin. Her own magic rose in response and warmth stole over her as the two of them touched and twined.

"You've suddenly gotten very touchy feely." Kaoru murmured trying to keep her voice from sounding too breathy.

"I'm sorry," Kenshin murmured. He couldn't help it. Both their magics were demanding touch. The way she had faded when he had left her side was evidence of that. He needed to be contact with her.

The threads binding them were tight but fragile. If either one of them attempted to pull away they would snap and shatter like glass.

And he didn't want to know what would happen.

They were so wrapped around one another that if something happened to one – without a doubt it would happen to the other.

"Go to sleep." Kenshin told her. "You need to rest."

Kaoru nodded vaguely. She was tired.

Lulled by the feeling of her magic purring contentedly and the warmth that suffused her, Kaoru slept.


End file.
